
Glass. 



iook 



LIFE 



OF 



ROGER WILLIAMS, 



THE 



EARLIEST LEGISLATOR AND TRUE CHAMPION FOR A FULL 
AND ABSOLUTE LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 



BY ROMEO ELTON, D.D.. F.R.P.S., 

FELLOW OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY OP NORTHERN ANTIQUARIES, ETC., ETC. 



ct HUMANI JURIS ET NATURALIS POTESTATIS EST UNICUIQUE QUOD PITTA VERIT 
COLERE : NEC ALII OBEST AUT PRODEST ALTERIUS RELIGIO. SED NEC RELICIONIS 
EST, COGERE RELIGIONEM, QU.E SPONTE SUSCIPI DEBEAT, NON VI." — Tertufflan. 



PROVIDENCE : 
GEORGE II. WHITNEY. 

>H» .1 



~R 



82 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1852, by Romeo Elton, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New 
York. 



KNOWLES, ANTHONY & CO., PRINTERS, PROVIDENCE. 



PREFACE. 



In New England, the name of Roger Williams is now a 

lousehold word. As one of the earliest advocates, and the 

rst legislator of religious liberty, his fame has recently been 

lore widely diffused. An admirable poem, by Judge Dur- 

e, entitled " Roger Williams in Banishment," was reprinted 

England in 1840, and in 1848 Williams's "Bloudy Ten- 

ent of Persecution Discussed" was published by the Hanserd 

Knollys Society, with a biographical introduction by the able 

editor, E. B. Underhill, Esq. 

In describing the conduct of this extraordinary man, as 
well as that of his persecutors, truth has compelled the au- 
thor sometimes to censure where he would gladly praise, but 
he has endeavored to maintain the strictest impartiality. 
The spirit of Williams was eminently catholic ; and his name 
and memory are the property, not of a single denomination, 
but of the whole Christian world. 

In preparing the present volume, the writer has spared no 
pains to obtain information from every source, whether con- 
tained in MSS. or printed works, and many facts relative to 
Williams's early life are now for the first time presented to u 
the public. He is happy here to offer his acknowledgements 
to Lord H. Vane, and to several clergymen and literary gen- 
tlemen, for courteous replies to his inquiries, and for some 
valuable facts. 



IV PREFACE. 

A memoir of Roger Williams was published in 1834, by 
Professor Knowles. It is a work of great research, and very 
useful for reference, but too much encumbered with docu- 
ments, and too minute in its local details, to interest general 
readers. To this volume the writer is largely indebted. 

In the numerous extracts given from the manuscripts of 
Williams, no alteration has been made, except to modernize 
the orthography, and to correct the punctuation when ne- 
cessary to render his meaning more perspicuous. 

No portrait of Williams is known to exist. One, indeed, 
has been published, purporting to be such, but is spurious, 
being, with slight alterations, the likeness of Benjamin Frank- 
lin, which appeared in an edition of his works printed in 
Philadelphia about half a century ago. 

At a crisis when the public mind is so strongly excited on 
questions of civil and religious liberty, the great principle ad- 
vocated by Roger Williams — that civil rulers have no au- 
thority to prescribe, enjoin, or regulate religious belief — 
demands the most serious consideration of every church and 
of every government. 

April, 1852. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

PREFACE iii. 



CHAPTER I. 

Historical Notice of the First Settlements of New England- 
Opinions of the Puritans on Ecclesiastical Affairs . 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Early Life of Williams — Ilis Education at Salters' Hall — Studies 
at Oxford — Is admitted to orders— Becomes a decided Nonconformist 9 

CHAPTER HI. 

Roger Williams embarks for America— He arrives in Boston— His 
Opinions on Ecclesiastical Polity — He is invited to Salem — The Gen- 
eral Court interfere— He removes to Plymouth 1± 

CHAPTER IV. 

Williams returns to Salem — He disapproves of the Ministers' Meet- 
ings — His Treatise against the King's Patent— Controversy about 
the Cross in the Military Colors 22 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

PAGE. 

Proceedings which led to the Banishment of Roger Williams — His 
Opposition to the Freemen's Oath — various charges against him — 
The Decree of Banishment — He leaves Salem 27 

CHAPTER VI. 

Williams's Journey through the Wilderness to Narragansett Bay 
—He visits Massassoit — Proceeds to Seekonk, and begins a settle- 
ment — He crosses the River, and founds the Town of Providence . 34 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Indian Tribes in New England — Purchase of Lands from the 
Indians — Settlement of the Colony at Providence — Freedom of the 
Government 40 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Pequod War — AYilliams prevents the Indian League, and 
saves the Colonies from Destruction — Services to Massachusetts — 
Letter to Governor Winthrop— The Defeat and Ruin of the Pequods 47 

CHAPTER IX. 

Condition of Providence— Law to Protect Conscience— Mrs. 
Hutchinson is banished from Massachusetts — Her adherents are wel- 
comed at Providence— Settlement on Rhode Island commenced — 
The Agency of Williams in its Purchase 55 

CHAPTER X. 

League of the New England Colonies— The Settlements in Rhode- 
Inland excluded— Williams's first risit to England— Publishes his 



CONTEXTS. vii 

PAGE. 

Key to the Indian Languages— Obtains a Charter— His Letter to 
Cotton — The "Bloudy Tenent" — He returns to America— His Re- 
ception at Boston and Providence 63 

CHAPTER XI. 

Williams's efforts in preventing a general Indian War — Form of 
Government under the Charter — Spirit of the Laws — Dissensions — 
Williams's Letter to the Town of Providence — Coddington*s Com- 
mission — Oppressive Policy of the other New England Colonies — 
Persecution of John Clarke and others in Massachusetts — Letter of 
Sir Richard Saltonstall — Williams and Clarke appointed Agents to 
the Mother Country 76 

CHAPTER XII. 

Williams and Clarke sail for England— Coddington's Commission 
revoked, and the former Charter confirmed — Letter of the General 
Assembly to Williams — Publishes his Experiments of Spritual Life 
and Health, and their Preservatives— ' ; The Hireling Ministry" — Re- 
joinder to Cotton— Correspondence 85 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Williams's Correspondence with the Daughter of Sir Edward 
Coke — His Intercourse with Sir Henry Vnne. ( 'romwell, and Milton 90 

CHAPTER XIY. 

Williams returns to America — His Letter to Governor Winthrop 
— Reorganization of the Government— He is elected President of 
the Colony— His Letter to the Government of Massachusetts— His 
Letter on Civil and Religious Liberty Ill 

CHAPTER XV. 

Letter from Cromwell— Williams attempts to establish Friendly 



Viii CONTENTS. 

I 

PAGE. 

Relations with Massachusetts— Severe Laws against the Quakers in 
the other Colonies— Rhode Island refuses to join in the Persecution 
—Letter to John Clarke— Williams retires from the Presidency . . 124 

CHAPTER XYI. 

The King grants a new Charter— Williams appointed an Assistant 
Charges against Rhode Island refuted — Controversy with the Qua- 
kers—Philip's War— Services of Williams 132 

CHAPTER XVH. 

Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Colony— Williams's Religious Opin- 
ions—His Labors as a Minister— His Letter to Governor Bradstreet 
—His Death 144 

CHAPTER XVHI. 

General Estimate of his Character— Spread of his great Principle 
—Concluding Observations 150 

APPENDIX. 

1. Williams's Letter to Major Mason 157 

II. Extract from Sir Henry Vane's Healing Question propound- 
ed, &c , 1G9 

III. Genealogy of the Cromwell Family 173 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS 



" Like Israel's host, to exile driven, 
Across the flood the pilgrims fled ; 

Their hands bore up the ark ch. Heaven, 
And Heaven their trusting footsteps led, 

Till on these savage shores they trod, 
And won the wilderness for God." 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORICAL NOTICE OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS 01' 
NEW ENGLAND — OPINIONS OF THE PURITANS ON EC- 
CLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 

In the days that are past, when men, who were in advance 
of their age, discovered new truths in religion or philosophy, 
they were usually called to suffer or die in their defence. 
The seed fell on an ungrateful soil, was often watered with 
blood, and remained buried for ages, until at length a genial 
season caused it to spring up and bear abundant fruit. 

Roger Williams was more favored. He suffered, indeed, 
for the noble principle he was the first to proclaim in the 
New World ; but he afterwards bore it in triumph to the 
sanctuary he himself had provided, founded a state in accor- 
dance with it, embodied it in his own laws, and thus acquired 
immortal fame, as the earliest legislator and true champion 

for a full and absolute liberty of conscience. 
2 



K 



2 LIFE OF EOGER WILLIAMS. 

To enable the reader intelligently to peruse the life of 
this eminent individual, it will be necessary to present a con- 
cise narrative of the first settlement of New England, and to 
consider the basis on which the colony of Massachusetts Bay 
erected the fabric of their society. 

In September 1620, a company of English Protestants, 
exiles for religion, set sail for a new world ; and, after a long 
and boisterous passage of sixty-three days, were safely moored 
in the harbor of Cape Cod. In the cabin of the Mayflower, 
before they landed, the}' formed themselves into a body poli- 
tic, " to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal 
laws" as should be thought most convenient for the general 
good of the colony they had undertaken to plant, " for the 
glory of God and advancement of the christian faith, and 
honor of their king and country." This voluntary compact 
was signed by the whole body of men, forty-one in number. 
who, with their families, amounted to one hundred persons. 
The spot where the company fixed a permanent settlement, 
on the 11th of December, they named Plymouth, in remem- 
brance of the hospitalities they received at the last English 
port whence they embarked. 

These colonists had left England, on account of the op- 
pression they endured, so early as 1608, and settled at Ley- 
den, in Holland, where they attained " a comfortable condi- 
tion, grew in the gifts and grace of the Spirit of God, and 
Kved together in peace, and love, and holiness." The mag- 
istrates of the city said, " Never did we have any suit or ac- 
cusation against any of them." But they felt as men in ex- 
ile ; and a foreign language, and the lax morals prevalent in 
that country, induced the pilgrims to change their abode, and 
seek an asylum in the New World. The farewell address 
delivered to them by their pastor, the Eev. John Robinson, 
breathes a freedom of opinion greatly in advance of his age : 
" I charge you, before God and his blessed angels, that you 
follow m< no further than you have seen me follow the Lord 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. ; 

Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break forth 
out of his holy word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the con- 
dition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in 
religion, and will go at present no further than the instru- 
ments of their reformation. Luther and Calvin were great 
and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into 
the whole counsel of God. I beseech you remember it — 'tis 
an article of your church covenant, that you be ready to re- 
ceive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the 
written word of God." 

The settlements composing the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay occurred a few years later. This magnificent enter- 
prise was conducted under the direction of the Plymouth 
Company, who obtained a patent, by which a number of the 
nobility and gentry of England, their associates and succes- 
sors, were constituted " the council established at Plymouth, 
in the county of Devon, for the planting ruling, ordering, 
and governing, of New England, in America." The coun- 
cil for New England, in 1628, sold to several gentlemen, 
among whom were John Humphrey and John Endicott, a 
belt of land stretching across the whole breadth of the conti- 
nent, extending three miles south of the river Charles and 
the Massachusetts Bay, and three miles north of every part 
of the river Merrimac. In June, of the same year, a com- 
panv of emigrants, under the direction of the enterprising 
and intrepid Endicott, sailed for Naumkeag, since called Sa- 
lem, where they made a permanent settlement. The patent 
from the council at Plymouth gave a right to the soil, but no 
powers of government. A royal charter, which bears the 
signature of Charles L, passed the seals March 4th, 1629, a 
few days only before the king, in a public state-paper, avowed 
his design of governing without a parliament. By this char- 
ter, the associates were constituted a body politic and corpo- 
rate, by the name of the Governor and Company of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, in New England. They were empowered to 



4 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

elect, annually, forever, out of the freemen of said company, 
a o-overnor, a deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants, and 
to make laws not repugnant to the laws of England ; no pro- 
vision requiring the assent of the king to render the acts of 
the body valid. 

A powerful impulse was thus given to the friends of colo- 
nial enterprise ; and, immediately, an emigration, unparal- 
lelled for its extent and the great respectability of the emi- 
grants, was projected. 

The Rev. Francis Higginson, an eminent nonconforming 
minister, of a truly catholic spirit, received an invitation to 
conduct another band of pilgrims to the shores of New Eng- 
land. He was a graduate of the university of Cambridge, 
and ranked among the most eloquent and pious in the realm. 
Higginson, earnestly desiring to propagate the gospel among 
the Indians, considered the invitation as a call from heaven. 
On leaving the scene of his labors for London, people of all 
ranks crowded the streets to bid him farewell. Three ad- 
ditional ministers joined the company. When about to lose 
sig ht of their native land — the home of their fathers, and the 
dwelling place of their friends — Higginson took his children 
and others to the stern of the ship, and said : — " We will not 
say, as the Separatists were wont to say, ' Farewell Babylon ! 
— farewell Rome !' but Farewell dear England! — farewell 
the church of Christ in England ! though we cannot but sep- 
arate from the corruptions in it." He then concluded with 
a fervent and appropriate prayer for the king and the church 
in England, and for themselves and the expedition. 

In June 1629, this pious band of two hundred individuals 
arrived at Salem, where they hoped to kindle the light of 
the gospel amid the darkness of heathenism, and to plant a 
church free from the corruptions of human superstition. 

Many persons of. large fortune, and superior education, 
resolved to remove with their families to Massachusetts, pro- 
vided the power, conferred by the charter of the colony, and 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. f, 

the seat of government, should be transferred to America. 
This important measure was fully acceded to, and on the 
28th of April, 1630, John Winthrop, who had been chosen 
governor — a man whose mental endowments derived lustre 
from the noblest moral qualities — sailed with his associates in 
the Arabella from Yarmouth. The whole number of vessels 
employed during the season was seventeen, and they carried 
over more than fifteen hundred passengers. In June and 
Jul)', the fleet which bore Winthrop and his companions ar- 
rived at Salem. The first care of the colonists was to select 
the most suitable places for the new plantations, and it was 
not long before they were settled in Boston and the adjacent 
villages. 

Before leaving the land of their nativity, they published 
to the world the reasons for their removal, and bade an af- 
fectionate farewell to the church of England. " Our hearts," 
say they, " shall be fountains of tears for your everlasting 
welfare, when we shall be in our poor cottages in the wil- 
derness." Their fervent piety, their unwavering faith in 
Divine Providence, and their desire to form a pure church, 
enabled them to encounter every hardship with undaunted 
courage. Many of this band of emigrants were men of large 
hereditary wealth, and hgh endowments ; scholars of varied 
and profound learning; civilians, who had attained official 
rank, power, and fame ; and divines, who had won the high- 
est respect in their native land, and who were among the 
holiest and most gifted men of the age. Nor must we forget 
that there were many distinguished ladies who accompanied 
their husbands — Christian women, accustomed to the indul- 
gences and refinements of life, and whose sincere religious 
faith gave them fortitude to endure the severest sufferings. 
and rendered them patient in their deepest sorrows, 

" What sought they thus afar? 
Bright jewels of the mine ? 
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? — 
They sought a faith's pure shrine ! ; ' 



6 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

In order clearly to understand the causes of the opposition 
which Roger Williams encountered, in a colony planted by 
such men, we must briefly advert to the opinions they held 
on ecclesiastical affairs. 

From the days of Elizabeth to the period we are now con- 
sidering, there had existed in England a perpetual conflict 
between the prelatical party and the puritans ; — the former 
determined to enforce strict uniformity; and the latter, 
strongly opposed to the popish ceremonies still retained in 
the church. The puritans, as a body, at first desired reform, 
and not schism ; but when they were driven out from the 
communion of the church by cruel persecution, they united 
in forming societies more in accordance with their views of 
the New Testament model. Some approved of the presby- 
terian form of government, others of the independent, and a 
few preferred a modified episcopacy. Enlightened as these 
confessors were on the great doctrines, and on many of the 
minor points of church government, they still remained in 
ignorance of one very important principle — the nature of 
true religious liberty. Great as their sufferings had been, 
from the persecutions of the established church, they had 
failed to discover the malignant source of this evil. They 
did not perceive, that whenever the state usurped power to 
legislate for conscience, a principle was set up which must 
inevitably lead to persecution and injustice — that to place 
the sovereign in the room of the pope was another form of 
antichrist, whose claims, if not so arrogant, were more incon- 
sistent, than that of a pretended infallible head. They did 
not perceive that this assumed power of the state to govern 
the church was the great barrier to the carrying out of the 
reformation, and to the further scriptural changes they so fer- 
vently desired. If they had been so far tolerated that they 
could have remained in their own land, they would, like the 
English nonconformists, have found out, in' the progress of 
rime, their mistake ; but when they became legislators them- 
selves, in the colonies they so nobly founded, their error was 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 7 

a fruitful source of strife and division. Misled by analogies 
with the Mosaic institutions, they confounded the slate with 
the Church, the citizen with the christian, and assumed them- 
selves, though fallible men, the power exercised under the 
Jewish theocracy, by a Divine King and Infallible Legislator. 

The principles of the puritans, who sought the shores of 
New England to establish religious liberty for themselves and \ 
their posterity, have been greatly misunderstood. What * 
they meant by religious freedom was not an unlimited free- 
dom of conscience. Universal toleration they regarded as a 
crime, and considered it a solemn duty to God to oppose er- 
ror and suppress false doctrines, if necessary even by force. 
While we lament and condemn their conduct, a candid mind 
will remember that the true grounds of liberty of conscience 
were not then embraced by any sect of christians. All par- 
ties appeared to think themselves the sole depositories of 
truth, and that every opposing doctrine must be suppressed. 

At this period, it was not the church of England alone 
that was intolerant; even later, the Scotch commissioners 
in London remonstrated, in the name of their national church, 
against a " sinful and ungodly toleration in matters of relig- 
ion ;" whilst the whole body of the English presbyterian 
clergy, in their official papers, protested against the schemes 
of Cromwell's party, and solemnly declared, " that they de- 
tested and abhorred toleration." The excellent Richard 
Baxter, a man noted in his day for moderation, said, " I ab- 
hor unlimited liberty or toleration for all." Edwards, ano- 
ther celebrated divine, observed, " Toleration will make the 
kingdom a chaos, a Babel, another Amsterdam, a Sodom, an 
Egypt, a Babylon." 

The first settlers of New England were not, therefore, sin- 
gular in believing themselves bound in conscience to extir- 
pate every noxious weed from the garden of the Lord, and 
" to use the sword of the civil magistrate to open the under- 
standings of heretics, or cut them off from the state, thatthi 



8 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

might not infect the church or injure the public peace."* 
While, however, in forming a judgment of the pilgrim fath- 
ers, we fully admit these extenuating circumstances, our ad- 
miration must be increased for the founder of Rhode Island, 
as the first legislator whose enlarged understanding and ex- 
pansive charity led him to recognise the doctrine of entire 
religious freedom ; and to renounce the almost universal 
error of his age. 

* Calieader, in R, I. Hist. Coll. iv. p. 71- 



CHAPTER IT. 

EARLY LIFE OF WILLIAMS — HIS EDUCATION AT SAL- 
TER'S HALL — STUDIES AT OXFORD — IS ADMITTED TO 
ORDERS — BECOMES A DECIDED NONCONFORMIST. 

The seventeenth century has been justly called, by Dr. 
Chalmers, " the Augustan age of Christianity." It was the 
age of Howe, Baxter, Owen, Goodwin, and other eminent 
divines, who, by their preaching and writings, effected a sec- 
ond reformation in the christian church. 

At the commencement of this eventful period, when the 
intellect had received a powerful impulse, manifested in every 
form of inquiry, Roger Williams was born, in an obscure 
country parish, amid the mountains of Wales. It is deeply 
to be regretted that so few memorials exist of his early his- 
tory. Until now, even the christian name of his father, the 
place of his birth and education, and other incidents of his 
youthful days, were unknown, or rested merely on tradition. 
The present writer, for many years past, has spared no pains 
in inquiries respecting that period of his life, and he has been 
successful in obtaining several facts, which are now for the 
first time published. 

Roger Williams, the founder of the state of Rhode Island, 
was the son of William Williams, of Conwyl Cayo, a parish 
situated near Lampeter, in the county of Carmarthen, South 
Wales. Here his ancestors had resided on their own small 
estate for many generations, at a place called Maestroiddyn 
faio\ in the hamlet of Maestroiddyn. In addition to other 
documentary evidence now in the possession of the author, 



10 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

the following record is copied from the archives of the uni- 
versity of Oxford : — " Rodericus Williams filius Gulielmi 
Williams, de Conwelgaio, Pleb. an. nat. 18, entered at Jesus 
college, April 30, 1624." It appears from this record tha 
Williams was born in the year* 1608. Scarcely any of the 
parochial registers of Wales are found to go farther back 
than the times of the Commonwealth, and the earliest date 
of those of his native parish is 1694. Other facts, however, 
confirm the record preserved in the archives at Oxford. 
There is now living at Conwyl Cayo — or as it is more fre- 
quently called simply Cayo — a venerable patriarch, nearly 
one hundred years old, who is apparently of the same family 
with Roger Williams. The mental powers of this aged Nes- 
tor are still vigorous, and his memory tenacious with respect 
to circumstances which have long since transpired. He says 
he has heard his grandfather mention " that the great Roger 
Williams, who was educated at Oxford, was one of his fami- 
ly, and that he went over the sea, after being a clergyman for 
a few years in England." He asserts that his grandfather 
lived to the age of ninety-eight ; and that his great grand- 
father reached nearly the same advanced period. He says, 
also, that at one time, there were two letters in the possess- 
ion of his family which had been received by his great grand- 
father from Roger Williams. 

No allusion to his parents is found in the writings of Wil- 
liams, but he has left us one fact respecting his early years, 
which is of all others the most important. Near the close of 
his life he says, " from my childhood, now about threescore 
years, the Father of lights and mercies touched my soul with 
a love to himself, to his only-begotten, the true Lord Jesus, 
and to his holy scriptures." This remark justifies the belief 
that his parents were pious, that he was educated with care, 
and that religious principles had, at a very early period, a 
decided influence upon his mind. 

At what age, or for what object, he was removed from the 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 11 

rural seclusion of his native hamlet to the busy scenes of 
London we have no record, but we find him, when a mere 
youth, in the metropolis. 

The next authentic fact respecting his early history is 
found in a note appended by* Mrs. Sadleir, the daughter of 
Sir Edward Coke, to one of Williams's letters addressed to 
herself: — " This Roger Williams, when he was a youth, 
would, in a short-hand, take sermons and speeches in the 
Star Chamber, and present them to my dear father. He, 
seeing so hopeful a youth, took such liking to him that he 
sent him in to Sutton's Hospital."* His age at that time 
could not have been more than fifteen years. This incident 
seems to indicate that his parents were in a respectable sta- 
tion in life, since it is evident he had received a good ele- 
mentary education ; and the circumstance that his short-hand 
notes attracted the attention of the great lawyer is a proof of 
his early mental superiority. 

The records of Sutton's Hospital — now the Charter 
House — furnish no other particulars than the following — 
that Roger Williams was elected a scholar of that institution, 
June 25, 1621, and that he obtained an exhibition, July 9, 
1624. 

It appears from the register of his matriculation, at Ox- 
ford, to which we have already referred, that he entered at 
Jesus college, April 30, 1624. Cayo, the place of his birth, 
with Llansawell, is a consolidated parish, the great tithes of 
which belong to the head of Jesus College. This may ac- 
count for his being a member of that college, and, perhaps, 
supported, in part, by the head. It may be added, that this 
college was founded by Dr. Hugh Price, in 1571, to extend 
the benefits of learning to the natives of Wales, and has al- 
ways been a favorite resort of students from the Principality. 
The records furnish no evidence how long he remained at 

* MS. letter of Roger Williams to Mrs. Sadleir in the library of Trinity 
College, Cambridge. 



12 LIFE OF ROGER WILLAMS. 

the university, but his writings testify that he prosecuted his 
studies with industry, and drank deeply at the fountains of 
learning. At that period, logic and the classics formed the 
chief subjects of study in the prescribed course ; but he de- 
voted himself to other collateral branches. He was well 
versed in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and several of the 
modern lano-uag;es. There is a tradition that, after the com- 
pletion of his residence at Oxford, he commenced the study 
of the law under the patronage of Sir Edward Coke ; but. 
however this may be, the legal documents which proceeded 
from his pen exhibit a knowledge of general principles of equi- 
ty and jurisprudence, that would have been creditable to the 
profession. This knowledge qualified him for his duties as 
legislator of the colony he founded, and was of great value 
to him in his subsequent course. It is quite evident, how- 
ever, that the ministry of the gospel was his chosen pursuit ; 
for he had been admitted to orders, in the church of Eng- 
land, previous to his arrival in America. It is said, that he 
assumed, while in England, the charge of a parish, and that 
he was held in high repute as a preacher. In his rejoinder 
to the Rev. John Cotton he speaks of riding together with 
that gentleman and the Rev. Mr. Hooker to and from Sem- 
pringham, Lincolnshire. Mr. Cotton was minister of Bos- 
ton, in that county, for nearly twenty years before he settled 
in Massachusetts. The excellent Dr. Williams was at that 
time the bishop of Lincoln, who connived at the nonconform- 
ists, and spoke with some keenness against the ceremonies of 
the church. The subject of our narrative had already em- 
braced the tenets of the persecuted puritans, and all these 
circumstances render it very probable that his charge was iv 
the diocese of Lincoln. 

The intolerable oppressions of Laud, and the arrogant 
demand of absolute submission to the ceremonies of the Ens- 
lish Church, forced him to seek that religious liberty amid 
the wilds of America that was denied to him in the mother 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 13 

country. Higginson, Cotton, Hooker, and many other 
learned and pious ministers, had been silenced, and Williams 
could not expect that he would be suffered to preach, for his 
refusal to conform appears to have been most decided. We 
are not surprised, therefore, to find him among the early em- 
igrants to New England, 



CHAPTER IH. 

ROGER WILLIAMS EMBARKS FOR AMERICA— ARRIVES IK 
BOSTON — HIS OPINIONS ON ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY — 
HE IS INVITED TO SALEM — GENERAL COURT INTER- 
FERES — REMOVES TO PLYMOUTH. 

On the 5th of February, 1631, a ship from Bristol sailed into 
Boston harbor, and, after a tempestuous voyage of sixty-six 
days, the exiles with joy espied the heights of the three-hilled 
city. It was the Lyon, Captain "William Pierce, Among 
the passengers was a " young minister, godly and zealous, 
having precious" gifts, whose mind was of a philosophic cast. 
and whose opinions were marked by a strong individuality. 
This minister was Roger "Williams. His arrival is recorded 
by Governor Winthrop, in his Journal,* and appears to have 
occasioned joy to the churches of the infant colony. He was 
accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Mary "Williams, a lady who 
appears to have been of a kindred spirit, and who lived to 
share with her husband the vicissitudes of life for half a cen- 
tury. 

"When "Williams first became a resident of the new city of 
the pilgrims, the land of hope and promise, 

" The ark of freedom and of God." 

nothino- less than a special revelation from heaven would 
have led him to anticipate a second exile, and that exile to 
be inflicted by the hands of brethren. But it is our painful 
duty to record the mortifying fact, that he soon found the 
civil and ecclesiastical authorities arrayed against him, and 

■ Vol.i, pp. 41, 42. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 15 

that the lords brethren of Massachusetts were in some respects 
as intolerant as the lords bishops of England. The grand 
idea that " a most flourishing civil state may stand, and be 
best maintained, with a full liberty in religious concern- 
ments," had not yet found a place in the minds of men, and 
received no echo in the hearts of the colonists. Liberty of 
conscience had been held and asserted, in a modified form, 
by the Waldenses, by Helwisse, by Luther and his associates, 
and by others of a former age ; but to Roger Williams be- 
longs the high honor of having introduced it into legislation. 
The great doctrine he announced, when he first trod the 
shores of NeAV England, and which he defended through life, 
was, — that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but had 
no right interfere in matters of conscience, and to punish for 
heresy or apostacy. He contended that "the doctrine of 
persecution for cause of conscience is most evidently and la- 
mentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus" — that the 
power of the civil magistrate " extends only to the bodies, 
and goods, and outward estate of men."* " The removal of 
the yoke of soul oppression, as it will prove an act of mercy 
and righteousness to the enslaved nations, so it is of binding 
force to engage the whole and every interest and conscience 
to preserve the common liberty and peace."f He maintained 
that " the people were the origin of all free power in govern- 
ment," but that they were " not invested by Christ Jesus 
with power to ride in his church ; that they could give no 
such power to the magistrate, and that to " introduce the civil 
sword" into the kingdom of Christ was " to confound heaven 
and earth, and lay all upon heaps of confusion." He main- 
tained the novel doctrine, that the ecclestiastical should be 
totally separated from the civil power ; and boldly demanded 
that the church and the magistracy should each act within 
its appropriate sphere. 

* Cotton's Letter Examined and Answered* 
t "Hireling Ministry." p. 29, 



16 Life of roger Williams. 

A few weeks after his arrival, Mr. Williams was called by 
the church at Salem to become an assistant to their pastor, 
the Rev. Mr. Skelton, as teacher, in the place of the learned 
and accomplished Higginson, who had died a few months 
before. In the ecclesiastical polity of the New England 
churches, the offices of pastor and teacher were considered 
as distinct, and both deemed essential to the welfare of a 
church. Mr. Williams accepted the invitation, and com- 
menced his ministry at Salem ; but the civil authority imme- 
diately interfered to prevent his settlement. The reasons 
assigned by the magistrates for this interposition, in the let- 
ter which they addressed to Mr. Endicott, are, first, that 
Mr. Williams had refused to join with the congregation at 
Boston, because they would not declare their repentance for 
having held communion with the church of England while 
they lived there ; secondly, that he " had declared his opin- 
ion that the magistrate might not punish a breach of the Sab- 
bath, nor any other offence that was a breach of the first 
table," 

The former of these charges is so very indefinite that it 
is difficult to ascertain the degree of criminality which Mr. 
Williams attributed to the conduct of the Boston church, and 
to what extent he wished its members to declare their re- 
pentance. Hooker, Higginson, and Cotton were all of them 
ministers of the church of England, and not separatists, when 
they landed in Massachusetts, and Governor Winthrop and 
his associates acknowledged themselves members at the mo- 
ment of their departure. Many good men considered this 
conformity highly censurable, tending to sanction the corrup- 
tions of the church and her cruelties and oppressions. It is 
not surprising that Mr. Williams, having deeply felt the in- 
tolerance of the hierarchy, was disinclined to join with those 
who connived at her unscriptural requirements, and yielded 
to her arrogant demand of absolute submission. " My own 
voluntary withdrawing from all the churches resolved to con- 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 17 

tinue in persecuting the witnesses of the Lord — presenting 
light unto them — I confess it was my own voluntary act ; 
yea, I hope the act of the Lord Jesus, sounding forth in me 
the blast, which shall in his own holy season cast down the 
strength and confidence of those inventions of men."* The 
real offence of Williams was probably this, that having such 
strong and conscientious objections to the church of England, 
he would not consent to unite in membership with a congre- 
gation that still professed to be connected with it. That he 
was not guilty of the uncharitableness and bigotry with which 
he was charged is evident from a circumstance recorded by 
Winthrop, which shows that, a few months afterwards, when 
Williams was a minister of the church at Plymouth, he re- 
ceived Governor Winthrop and other gentlemen from Bos- 
ton at the communion in his own church.f Williams did not 
deny that multitudes of persons in national churches are to 
be regarded true Christians, but he maintained that " every 
national church is of a vicious constitution, and that a ma- 
jority in such churches are unregenerate." 

The other charge, that Williams denied the power of the 
civil magistrate to punish men for the neglect, or the erro- 
neous performance, of their duties to God, is one which, at 
the present day, it is not necessary to discuss or to vindicate. 
The great doctrine, that man is accountable to his Maker 
alone for his religious belief and practice, has long been the 
opinion in America, and is rapidly pervading every portion 
of the civilized world. The religious relations, rights, and 
obligations of all men are substantially the same, and experi- 
ence, in all ages, demonstrates the manifold evils which spring 
from the civil ruler being entrusted with power to regulate 
the intercourse between man and the Supreme Potentate — 
the Sovereign of minds — the Lord of conscience. 

On the 12th of April, 1631, Mr. Williams was settled as 

* Cotton's Letter Examined and Answered, p. 3. 
t Winthrop, vol.L p. 91. 
3 



'18 LIFE OF KOGER WILLIAMS. 

a minister of the church at Salem, the same day on which 
the magistrates were assembled at Boston to express their 
disapprobation of the measure, and to desire the church to 
forbear any further proceeding. This arbitrary interference 
of the general court of the colony with the rights of the 
Salem church will not now be justified by any man who be- 
lieves that Christ is the only legislator in his kingdom. 

To the civil government of the colony he was willing to 
yield due submission, and on the 18th of the following May 
he took the customary oath on his admission as a freeman. 
This fact deserves notice because it refutes another charge 
which has been brought against him, that he refused to take 
an oath. It is worthy of notice, also, that on the very day 
he was admitted a citizen of the colony, the general court 
" ordered and agreed that, for the time to come, no man shall 
be admitted to the freedom of this body politic but such as 
are members of some of the churches within the limits of the 
same." The ecclesiastical polity established was a sort of 
theocracy. The government belonged solely to the " bretli- 
Ten." "Not only was the door of calling to magistracy shut 
against natural and unregenerate men, though excellently 
fitted for civil offices, but also against the best and ablest 
servants of God, except they be entered into church estate."* 
This, according to Williams, was " to pluck up the roots and 
foundations of all common society in the world, to turn the 
garden and paradise of the church and saints into the field 
of the civil state of the world, and to reduce the world to the 
first chaos or confusion." This unjust law the colony was 
afterwards forced to repeal. It was soon found to operate 
as a bribe to hypocrisy, rendering church-membership sub- 
servient to political objects, and in its subsequent results 
destroyed the harmony of the colony. 

The settlement of Mr. Williams at Salem was destined to 
be of short continuance. Disregarding the wishes and ad- 

* « Bloudy Tenants p. 287. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 19 

vice of the authorities in calling him to be their minister, the 
church had incurred the disapprobation of the magistrates, 
and raised a storm of persecution, so that before the close of 
summer he sought a residence in the colony of Plymouth. 
That his removal from Salem was not his own choice, or the 
desire of the church, is evident from the high place he held 
in their affections during his whole life, and his return to 
that town by their invitation, two years after, to resume 
among them his ministerial labors. 

Mr. Williams was received with much respect at Ply- 
mouth, and was settled as assistant to the pastor, the Rev. 
Ralph Smith. Governor Bradford says, " he was freely en- 
tertained among us, according to our poor ability, exercised 
his gifts among us, and after some time was admitted a mem- 
ber of the church, and his teaching well approved ; for the 
benefit whereof I shall bless God, and am thankful to him 
ever for his sharpest admonitions and reproofs, so far as they 
agree with truth."* 

The puritans who settled at Plymouth were organized as 
a church before they left Holland, and were separated en- 
tirely from the church of England. They recognized one 
important principle which manifested a more enlightened 
and liberal spirit than their brethren of Massachusetts Bay, 
which was, that ecclesiastical censures were wholly spiritual, 
and not to be accompanied with temporal penalties. An ad- 
herence to this principle greatly contributed to the peace and 
prosperity of that colony. 

During the residence of Mr. Williams at Plymouth, Gov- 
ernor Winthrop. with the Rev. Mr. Wilson, pastor of the 
Boston church, and other gentlemen, visited that town, and 
communed with the church there : a circumstance to which 
we have already adverted. An account of the visit is re- 
corded in Winthrop's Journal, and is an interesting illustra- 
tion of some of their primitive customs. 

* Prince, p. 377. 

3* 



20 LIFE OF JtOGEK WILLIAMS* 

"1632; September 25. — The governor of Plymouth, Mr, 
William Bradford (a very discreet and grave man), with Mr, 
Brewster, the elder, and some others, came forth and met 
them without the town, and conducted them to the gover- 
nor's house, where they were very kindly entertained and 
feasted every day at several houses. On the Lord's-day, 
there was a sacrament, which they did partake in ; and in 
the afternoon Mr. Roger Williams (according to their cus- 
tom) propounded a question, to which the pastor, Mr. Smith, 
spoke briefly ; then Mr. Williams prophesied ; and after, the 
governor of Plymouth spoke to the question ; after him, the 
elder ; then some two or three more of the congregation. 
Then the elder desired the governor of Massachusetts and 
Mr. Wilson to speak to it, which they did. When this was 
ended, the deacon, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind 
of their duty of contribution ; whereupon the governor and 
all the rest went down to the deacon's seat, and put into the 
box, and then returned."* 

In his residence at Plymouth, we trace the hand of that 
Divine Being, who was soon to employ him as an honored 
instrument in establishing a new colony, and also in preserv- 
ing New England from the merciless fury of the Indians, 
While here, he enjoyed frequent opportunities of friendly 
intercourse with their most celebrated chiefs, and by acts of 
kindness secured their confidence. At this period, also, he 
made excursions among these stern chiefs and warriors to 
learn their customs and language. In a letter written manv 
years afterwards, he says : " God was pleased to give me a 
painful, patient spirit, to lodge with them in their filthy, 
smoky holes, even while I lived at Plymouth and Salem, to 
gain their tongue." This friendly intimacy with the sa- 
chems, and knowledge of their language, was of inestimable 
advantage to him in his future career, in the purchase of 
lands, and in gaining an influence among the Indians which 

* Winthrop, vol. i. p. 91. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 21 

no other person ever obtained. His sympathies, also, were 
awakened for their spiritual condition : and he felt an ardent 
desire that they might be converted to the christian faith. 
In one of his letters, he says : " My soul's desire was to do 
the native's good ;" and his subsequent course of life shows 
how intensely his heart was fixed on their subjection to the 
spiritual and peaceful reign of Christ. 

Mr. Williams, after remaining about two years at Ply- 
mouth, was invited to return to Salem to assist Mr. Skelton, 
whose declining health unfitted him for the performance of 
his ministerial duties.* Some of the members of the church 
at Plymouth were so attached to his ministry, that, after in- 
effectual efforts to detain him, they were induced to transfer 
their residence to Salem. 

* Backus, vol. i, p. 56. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WILLIAMS RETURNS TO SALEM — DISAPPROVES OF THE 
MINISTER'S MEETINGS — HIS TREATISE AGAINST THE 
KING'S PATENT — CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE CROSS IN 
THE MILITARY COLORS. 

In August, 1633, Mr. Williams returned to Salem, and re- 
sumed his ministerial labors in that place as an assistant to 
the Rev. Mr. Skelton ; and about a year afterwards, on the 
death of Mr. Skelton, he was elected to the office of teacher 
of the church. 

The experience of ecclesiastical usurpation in England 
appears to have excited both the venerable Skelton and Mr. 
Williams to express an apprehension that the tendency of a 
ministers' meeting, recently established, was ominous of an 
encroachment upon the independence of the churches and 
Liberty of conscience. Winthrop says in his Journal, under 
date November, 1633 : " The ministers in the Bay and Sau- 
gus did meet once a fortnight, at one of their houses, by 
course, where some question of moment was debated. Mr. 
Skelton, the pastor of Salem, and Mr. Williams, who was 
removed from Plymouth thither (but not in any office, 
though he exercised by way of prophecy), took some excep- 
on against it, as fearing it might grow in time to a presby- 
tery or superintendency, to the prejudice of the church's 
liberties. But this fear was without cause ; for they were 
all clear in that point, that no church or person can have 
power over another church ; neither did they, in their meet- 
ings, exercise any such jurisdiction."* 

* Tol. i, p. 116. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 23 

This meeting was probably formed for the purpose of mu- 
tual improvement and consultation respecting the interests 
of religion ; but Messrs. Skelton and Williams undoubtedly 
perceived something which they deemed incompatible with 
their views of church government. 

Other opportunities for hostility to Mr. Williams were 
soon found by the magistrates and ministers. In December 
27, 1633, "the governor and assistants met at Boston, and 
took into consideration a treatise which Mr. Williams (then 
of Salem) had sent to them, and which he had formerly 
written to the governor and council of Plymouth, wherein, 
among other things, he disputed their right to the lands they 
possessed here, and concluded that, claiming by the king's 
grant, they could have no title, nor otherwise except they 
compounded with the natives."* 

It is to be regretted that the treatise, which occasioned 
these transactions, has not been preserved. In Coddington's 
Letter against Williams, inserted at the close of Fox's Reply, 
he is charged with having "written a quarto against the 
king's patent and authority," and it was probably this book 
to which Mr. Coddington alluded. Mr. Williams clearly 
perceived the injustice of the claim to occupy the lands 
which belonged to the natives merely on the ground of prior 
discovery, and the character and habits of the Indians. They 
were independent tribes ; in no sense the subjects of the 
king of England, and his charter could not convey to the 
colonists a title he did not himself possess. 

The " sin of the patents" which lay so heavy upon his 
mind was, that therein " christian-kings (so-called) are in- 
vested with a right, by virtue of their Christianity, to take 
and give away the lands and countries of other men." And 
he says that " before his troubles and banishment, he drew 
up a letter, not without the approbation of some of the chiefs 
of New England, then tender also upon this point before 

* Winthrop, toI. i, p. 122. 



24 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

God, directed unto the king himself, humbly acknowledging 
the evil of that part of the patent which respects the do- 
nation of lands," &c* The colonists themselves bought, al- 
most invariably, the lands of the natives for such compensa- 
tion as satisfied the Indians, thus acting on the very principle 
Williams advocated. Cotton Mather asserts, that, " notwith- 
standing the patent which they had for the country, they fairly 
purchased of the natives the several tracts of land which 
they afterwards possessed."! 

President D wight observes that, " exclusively of the coun- 
try of the Pequods, the inhabitants of Connecticut bought, un- 
less I am deceived, every inch of ground contained within that 
colony, of its native proprietors. The people of Rhode Island, 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, proceeded 
wholly in the same equitable manner. Until Philip's war, in 
1675, not a single foot of ground was claimed or occupied by 
the colonists on any other score but that of fair purchase/'^ 
These facts are highly honorable to the pilgrims, and Roger 
Williams is entitled to praise for his steady advocacy of this 
policy from the beginning. The king, in his patent, styles 
himself "the sovereign lord" of the whole continent, and 
gives and grants to the Plymouth Company a large part of 
it, from sea to sea, without intimating that any rights be- 
longed to the natives. Williams, being a warm friend to 
the Indians, and considering the patent a flagrant usurpa- 
tion of their rights, ma}- have put upon its lofty royal style 
too rigid a construction. 

His treatise, it appears, discussed merely the abstract 
question, and was a private communication to the governor 
and other gentlemen of Plymouth. There is no evidence 
that he questioned the authority of the charter, so far as it 
could operate without infringing on the rights of the Indians, 
and at a meeting of the governor and council, a month after- 

* Reply to Cotton on the " Bloudy Tenet," pp. 276, 277. 

t " Magnalia," book i. c. 5. t Dwight's Travel's toI. i. p. 167. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 25 

wards, they acknowledged that they had taken unnecessary 
offence.* The conduct of Williams on this occasion to the 
magistrates and clergy was mild and conciliating ; and, al- 
though he did not retract his opinions, he offered to burn 
the offensive book, and furnished satisfactory evidence of 
his " loyalty." 

Williams was now permitted, for a short period, to exer- 
cise his ministerial labors at Salem in peace. He was ac- 
ceptable as a preacher ; and it is an evidence of the warm 
attachment of the people, that, soon after the death of Mr. 
Skelton, in August, 1634, they invited him to become their 
teacher. The magistrates sent to the church, requesting 
they would not appoint him ; but they persisted, and Will- 
iams was regularly introduced to the office. This was pro- 
nounced by the magistrates and ministers " great contempt 
of authority ;" and we shall soon see how it was punished. 

The inflexibility of Williams's principles, and his determi- 
nation to exhibit them in practice, appear, occasionally, to 
have led him to extreme views on some points. But, 
whatever these defects may have been, they were less than 
those of his contemporaries, and cast no real blemish on his 
heroic character. His adversaries have brought two charges 
against him, which, though trivial, may deserve a passing 
remark. One is, that he preached upon the duty of females 
to wear veils in religious assemblies. No record of his real 
sentiments on this frivolous subject now exists, and Dr. 
Bentley asserts, that Mr. Endicott had introduced it before 
the arrival of Williams, and that the latter felt little interest 
in the matter. The other charge is, that, in consequence of 
Williams's preaching, Mr. Endicott cut the cross out of the 
military colors, as a relic of popish superstition. This act 
was, doubtless, unjustifiable, because the colors being estab- 
lished by the king, ought to have been viewed as a mere 
civil regulation. There is no evidence, however, that Will- 

* Winthrop, vol. i. p. 123. 



26 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

iams advised the measure, and it appears rather to have been 
the result of an inference drawn from the doctrine he main- 
tained on the unlawfulness of using symbols which had been 
desecrated in the service of popery.* 

Mr. Endicott deemed it his duty, as a magistrate, to re- 
move the cross from the colors, and as a punishment for this 
act, he was not permitted to hold any office for one year. 
The question about the lawfulness of the cross was warmly 
agitated at the time, and the matter was finally settled by the 
magistrates commanding that the cross be struck out of the 
colors for the trained bands, but retained in the banners of 
the castle, and of vessels in the harbor. That such trivial 
controversies should have occupied so much of the attention 
of grave men, may now excite our surprise. 

* Knowles, pp. 61, 62. 



CHAPTER V. 

PROCEEDINGS WHICH LED TO THE BANISHMENT OF ROGER 
WILLIAMS — HIS OPPOSITION TO THE FREEMAN'S OATH 
— VARIOUS CHARGES AGAINST HIM — THE DECREE OF 
BANISHMENT — HE LEAVES SALEM. 

Of the true cause of the banishment of Williams, no account 
can be relied on but that of Governor Winthrop. The other 
early writers wertf so influenced by prejudice, that they ex- 
hibit a lamentable want of impartiality. Hubbard remarks, 
" They passed a sentence of banishment against him, as a 
disturber of the peace, both of the church and common- 
wealth." Cotton Mather says, " He had a windmill in his 
head." All the ministers were convened at the trial of Wil- 
liams, and they were all opposed to his sentiments. Hub- 
bard and Mather gathered their reports from his opponents. 
Winthrop, who wrote at the time, has recorded the proceed- 
ings in his Journal. His account is as follows : — " In April, 
1635, the court summoned Williams to appear at Boston. 
The occasion was, that he had taught publicly that a magis- 
trate ought not to tender an oath to an unregenerate man ; 
for that we thereby have communion with a wicked man in 
the worship of God, and cause him to take the name of God 
in vain. He was heard before all the ministers and very clearly 
confuted." Had Williams recorded the event, he would, no 
doubt, have given a different version respecting the force of 
the arguments. 

It appears from a passage in the appendix to the " Hire- 
ling Ministry none of Christ's," that he considered taking 
an oath to be an act of worship ; " that a Christian might 



28 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

take one on proper occasions, though not for trivial causes— 
that an irreligious man could not sincerely perform this act 
of worship — and that no man ought to be forced to perform 
this any more than any other act of worship." His singular 
views of the nature of oaths, it appears, were formed before 
he left England ; probably from having observed the light 
manner in which they were administered indiscriminately to 
the pious and profane. In his reply to George Fox, Mr. 
Williams declares, that he has submitted to the loss of large 
sums " in the chancery in England," rather than yield to the 
offensive formality of kissing the Bible, holding up the hand, 
&c, though he did not object to taking the oath without 
them ; and the judges, he says, " told me they would rest in 
my testimony and way of swearing, but tljey could not dis- 
pense with me without an act of parliament." 

There is reason to believe, however, that Williams's of- 
fence respecting oaths consisted not so much in his abstract 
objections to their use, as in his opposition to what is known 
by the name of the " Freeman's Oath." " The magistrates 
and other members of the general court," says Mr. Cotton, 
" upon intelligence of some episcopal and malignant practi- 
ces against the country, made an order of court to take trial 
of the fidelity of the people, not by imposing upon them, but 
by offering to them, an oath of fidelity, that in case any 
should refuse to take it, they might not betrust them with 
place of public charge and command."* This oath virtually 
transferred the obligations of allegiance from the king to the 
government of Massachusetts. Mr. Cotton says that the 
oath was only offered, not imposed ; but it was, by a subse- 
quent act of the court, enforced on every man of sixteen 
years of age, and upwards, upon the penalty of his being 
punished, in case of refusing to take it, at the discretion of 
the court.f Mr. Williams opposed the oath, as contrary to 
the charter, inconsistent with the duty of British subjects, 

* " Tenent Washed," pp. 28, 29. t Backus, vol. i. p. 62. 






LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 29 

and with his great principle of unfettered religious liberty. 
His opposition was so determined, that "the court was forced 
to desist from that proceeding." 

The controversy between Mr. Williams and the civil and 
ecclesiastical heads of the colony was becoming, every day, 
more violent. The magistrates enacted a law, requiring 
every man to attend public worship, and to contribute to 
its support^ which was denounced by Williams as a violation 
of natural rights. " No one," said he, " should be bound to 
maintain a worship against his own consent." 

In July, 1G35, he was again summoned to Boston, to 
answer to the charges brought against him at the general 
court which was then in session. He was accused of main- 
taining the following dangerous opinions : — " First, That the 
magistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first table, 
otherwise than in such cases as did disturb the civil peace. 
Secondly, That he ought not to tender an oath to an unre- 
generate man. Thirdly, That a man ought not to pray with 
such, though wife, child, &c. Fourthly, That a man ouo;ht 
not to give thanks after sacrament, nor after meat, &c."* 
The ministers were requested by the magistrates to be pre- 
sent on this occasion, and to give their advice. They " pro- 
fessedly declared," that Mr. Williams deserved to be ban- 
ished from the colony for maintaining the doctrine, "that 
the civil magistrate might not intermeddle even to stop a 
church from heresy and apostasy ;" and that the churches 
ought to request the magistrates to remove him. 

The first two of the above charges we have already con- 
sidered. The reader will observe that Governor Winthrop 
has candidly acknnowledged that Roger Williams allowed it 
to be right for the magistrate to punish breaches of the first 
table, when they disturbed the civil peace — a fact which 
abundantly proves that he fully admitted the just claims of 
civil government. 

* Wiuthrop,Tol.i. p. 162. 



30 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

The third charge — admitting it to be an accurate express- 
ion of the views which he held — shows that he carried to 
an extreme an objection arising from the practice in Eng- 
land, where many who united in the petitions in the Book 
of Common Prayer were notoriously profligate.* Williams's 
own statement of the opinions he entertained on two of the 
above charges was, " that it is not lawful to call a wicked per- 
son to swear, or to pray, as being actions of God's worship."! 

With respect to the fourth charge — " that a man ought not 
to give thanks after sacrament, nor after meat" — it may be 
remarked that Roger Williams, in this opinion, anticipated 
the practice of many enlightened Christians of the present 
day, who consider it the most scriptural. 

It may now almost excite a smile that charges such as 
these should be brought against a man as crimes, before a 
civil tribunal. When Williams was summoned before the 
general court, there is no evidence that there was any ex- 
amination of witnesses, or any hearing of counsel. His 
" opinions were adjudged by all, magistrates and ministers, 
to be erroneous and very dangerous ;" and, after long de- 
bate, " time was given to him, and the church at Salem, to 
consider of these tilings till the next general court, and then 
either to give satisfaction to the court, or else to expect the 
sentence." Three days after the session of the court above- 
mentioned, as Winthrop informs us, the " Salem men had 
preferred a petition, at the last general court, for some land 
in Marblehead Neck, which thev did challenge as belonging 
to their town ; but because they had chosen Mr. Williams 
their teacher, while he had stood under question of authori- 
ty, and so offered contempt to the magistrates, &c, their pe- 
tition was refused. . . . Upon this, the church at Salem 
write to other churches to admonish the magistrates of this 
as a heinous sin, and likewise the deputies ; for which, at the 

* Knowles, p. 69. 

t Cotton's Letter Examined and Answered, chap. 3. 



LIFE OF ROGER "WILLIAMS. 31 

next general court, their deputies were not received until 
they should give satisfaction about the letter."* Thus they 
refused to Salem a civil right, as a mode of punishing the 
church for adhering to their pastor. Such an act of flagrant 
injustice forcibly illustrates the danger of a union between the 
civil and ecclesiastical power ! After the banishment of 
Williams, the land in question was granted to the people of 
Salem, but the postponement was evidently designed to in- 
duce them to consent to his removal. This attack upon 
civil liberty induced Williams, in conjunction with his church, 
to write " Letters of Admonition unto all the Churches 
whereof any of the magistrates were members, that they 
might admonish the magistrates of their injustice ;" and 
when the churches, in consequence of the threatening of the 
magistrates, recanted, he wrote a letter to his own church, 
exhorting them to withdraw communion from these churches. 

These proceedings of Williams and his church were fol- 
lowed by another atrocious violation of their rights. The 
deputies of Salem were deprived of their seats until apology 
was made ; and the principal deputy, Mr. Endicott, was im- 
prisoned, for justifying the letter of Williams. The records 
of the court, also contain the following remarkable decree, 
which illustrates the inquisitorial spirit of that tribunal : — 
" Mr. Samuel Sharpe is enjoined to appear at the next par- 
ticular court, to answer for the letter that came from the 
church of Salem, as also to bring the names of those that tcill 
justify the same ; or else to acknowledge his offence, under 
his own hand for his own particular."! 

The next general court was held in October, 1635, when 
Kocer Williams was asain summoned for the last time, " all 
the" ministers in the Bay being desired to be present ;" and 
'• Mr. Hooker was chosen to dispute with him, but could not 
reduce liini from any of his errors. So, the next morning, 

* Winthrop, vol. i. p. 164. 
t Savage's Winthrop, vol. i. p. 167, note. 



32 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

the court sentenced him to depart out of our jurisdiction 
"within six weeks, all the ministers, save one, approving the 
sentence."* The act of banishment, as it stands upon the 
colonial records, is in these words : — " Whereas Mr. Roger 
Williams, one of the elders of the church of Salem, hath 
broached and divulged new and dangerous opinions against 
the authority of magistrates ; as also writ letters of defama- 
tion, both of the magistrates and churches here, and that 
before any conviction, and yet maintaineth the same without 
any retraction ; it is, therefore, ordered that the said Mr. 
Williams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks 
now next ensuing, which, if he neglect to perform, it shall 
be lawful for the governor and two of the magistrates to send 
him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not to return any 
more without license from the court." , This cruel and un- 
justifiable sentence was passed on the 3rd of November. 
Neal, in his History of New England, acknowledges that on 
the final passing of the act " the whole town of Salem was 
in an uproar, for he was esteemed an honest, disinterested 
man, and of popular talents in the pulpit." His most bitter 
opponents confessed that, both at Plymouth and Salem, he 
was respected and beloved as a pious man and an able min- 
ister. 

The health of Williams was greatly unpaired by his severe 
trials and excessive labors, and he received permission to re- 
main at Salem till Spring. But complaints were soon made 
to the court that he would not refrain, in his own house, from 
uttering his opinions — that many people, " taken with an ap- 
prehension of his godliness," resorted there to listen to his 
teachings — that he had drawn above twenty persons to his 
opinion—and that he was preparing to form a plantation 
about Narraganset Bay. 

This information led the court to resolve to send him to 
England, by a ship then lying in the harbor ready for sea. 

* Winthropj vol.i. p. 171. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 33 

On the 11 tli of January, he received another summons to 
attend the court assembled at Boston, hut he refused to obey ; 
his answer was conveyed to the magistrates by " divers of 
the people of Salem." 

The magistrates, determining not to be defeated, immedi- 
ately sent a small sloop to Salem, with a commission to Cap- 
tain Underhill to apprehend him and carry him on board the 
ship about to sail to England ; but when the officers " came 
to his house, they found he had gone three days before, but 
whither they could not learn."* 

In presenting an account of the proceedings which led to 
the banishment of Roger Williams, the writer has aimed at 
strict impartiality, and has, therefore, availed himself, as much 
as possible, of the very language of his authorities. It must 
be apparent to every candid person, that the true cause may 
be found in the great doctrine which has immortalized his 
name — that the civil power has no jurisdiction 
over the conscience. The object of the government in 
directing his immediate apprehension was, doubtless, to pre- 
vent the establishment of a colony in which this great prin- 
ciple should be embodied. But their design, by the interpo- 
sition of Divine Providence, was happily frustrated ; and he 
was afterwards the instrument of inconceivable good to that 
very community which had driven him into exile. 

* Winthrop, vol. I p. 175- 



CHAPTER VI. 

Williams's journey through the wilderness to 
narragansett bay — he visits massassoit — he 
proceeds to seekonk, and begins a settlement — 
he crosses the river, and founds the town of 
providence. 

About the middle of January, 1636, the coldest month of a. 
New England winter, a solitary pilgrim might have been seen 
wandering amidst primeval forests, inhabited only by sava- 
ges and beasts of prey, in quest of a refuge from the hand 
of ecclesiastical tyranny. He was forced to leave his wife 
and young children, and to depart in secresy and haste, in 
order to escape the warrant which would have compelled 
him on board the ship waiting to convey him back to Eng- 
land. 

" Morn, came at last ; and by the dawning day 
Our founder rose, his secret flight to take ; 
His wife and infant still in slumber lay. 

' Mary !' (she woke) ' prepare the meet attire, 
My pocket-compass, and my mantle strong ; 

My flint and steel, to yield a needful fire ; 
Food for a week if that be not too long ; 

My hatchet, too — its service 1 require 
To clip my fuel, desert wilds among. 

With these I go to found, in forests drear, 

A state where none shall persecution fear. ' 5; * 

Roe;er Williams has left no detailed account of his adven- 
turous journey, but occasional allusions in his writings show 

* " What-cheer ; or, Roger Williams in Banisment." 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

how severe must have been his sufferings. The chief inci- 
dents are found in a letter to his friend, Major Mason, of 
Connecticut, written thirty-five years after, from which we 
make the following extracts. It is dated Provident e, June 
22, 16 70. 

" When I was unkindly, and unchristianly, as I believe, 
driven from my house, and land, and wife, and children, in 
the midst of a New England winter, now about thirty-five 
years past, at Salem, that ever-honored governor, Mr. Win- 
throp, privately wrote to me to steer my course to the Nar- 
ragansett Bay and Indians, for many high and heavenly and 
public ends, encouraging me, from the freeness of the place 
from any English claims or patents. I took his prudent mo- 
tion as a hint and voice from God, and, waiving all other 
thoughts and motions, I steered my course from Salem — 
though in winter-snow, which I yet feel — unto these parts, 
wherein I may say Peniel, that is, I have seen the face of 
God. 

" I first pitched, and began to build and plant at Seekonk ; 
but I received a letter from my ancient friend, Mr. Winslow, 
then governor of Plymouth, professing his own and others' love 
and respect to me, yet lovingly advising me, since I was fal- 
len into the edge of their bounds, and they were loth to dis- 
please the Bay, to remove but to the other side of the water ; 
and then he said I had the country free before me, and might 
be as free as themselves, and we should be loving neighbors 
together. These were the joint understandings of these two 
wise and eminently christian governors, and others, in their 
day, together with their counsel and advice as to the free- 
dom and vacancy of this place, which in this respect, and 
many other providences of the Most Holy and Only Wise, I 
called Providence. 

" Sometime after, the Plymouth great Sachem, Ousama- 
quin,* upon occasion, affirming that Providence was his land, 

Commonly called Massasoit. 



36 LIFE OF ROGER WILLAMS. 

and therefore Plymouth's land, and some resenting it, the 
then prudent and godly governor, Mr. Bradford, and others 
of his godly council, answered, — that if, after due examina- 
tion, it should be found true what the barbarian said, yet 
having to my loss of a harvest that year, been now — though by 
their gentle advice — as good as banished from Plymouth as 
from the Massachusetts, and I had quietly and patiently de- 
parted from them, at their motion, to the place where now I 
was, I should not be molested and tossed up and down again 
while they had breath in their bodies. And surely between 
those, my friends of the Bay and Plymouth, I was sorely 
tossed, for one fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not 
knowing what bread or bed did mean, beside the yearly loss 
of no small matter in my trading with English and natives, 
being debarred from Boston, the chief mart and port of New 
England. God knows that many thousand pounds cannot 
repay the losses I have sustained. It lies upon the Massa- 
chusetts and me, yea, and other colonies joining with them, 
to examine with fear and trembling, before the eyes of flam- 
ing fire, the true cause of all my sorrows and sufferings. It. 
pleased the Father of Spirits to touch many hearts dear to 
him with some relentings; amongst which that great and 
pious soul, Mr. Winslow, melted, and kindly visited me, at 
Providence, and put a piece of gold into the hands of my 
wife for our supply."* 

In another letter, Williams says : — " It pleased the Most 
High to direct my steps into this bay, by the loving, private 
advice of the ever-honored soul, Mr. John Winthrop, the 
grandfather, who, though he were carried with the stream 
for my banishment, yet he tenderly loved me to his last 
breath." Governor Winthrop's friendship for "Williams was 
manifested afterwards on various occasions, and he advised 
him to leave the colony, as a measure which he doubtless 
thought the public peace required. At the time of his ban- 

* Letter to Mason. Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. i. p. 275. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 37 

ishment, Mr. Haynes was governor. Mr. Winfhrop having 
been supplanted in the chief magistracy of the colony. 

When Roger Williams left Salem, it appears that he made 
his way through the desolate wilderness to Ousamequin, or 
Massasoit, the sachem of the Pokanokets, who resided at 
Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol, Rhode Is- 
land. This famous chief occupied the country north from 
Mount Hope, as far as Charles River. He had known Mr. 
Williams at Plymouth, and had often received from him to- 
kens of kindness, and now the aged sachem extended to the 
friendless exile hospitality and protection. Mr. Williams 
■obtained from this chief a tract of land on the Seekonk Riv- 
er, where he was soon joined by several of his friends from Sa- 
lem. This territory was within the limits of the Plymouth 
colony ; and, under a mistaken apprehension as to the bounds 
of the patent, his first location was on the east side of the See- 
konk River, which separates Massachusetts from Rhode Island. 
At this place, where he had begun to build and plant, new and 
unexpected disappointments awaited him, for he received in- 
telligence from his friend, Governor Winslow, that he had 
" fallen into the edge of their bounds." Although Williams 
recognized the Indians as the only rightful proprietors of the 
land, and had bought a title from their chief sachem, yet he 
immediately resolved to comply with the friendly advice of 
the governor of Plymouth. He accordingly embarked in a 
canoe, with five others, and proceeded down the Seekonk 
river, in quest of another spot to found a separate colon}', 
where the secular arm should have no dictation or control in 
the concerns of religion. Tradition reports, that as the little 
bark approached the eastern banks of the river, at a place 
now called Whatcheer Cove, Williams saw a company of 
Indians on the heights of the western banks of the stream, 
who greeted linn with the friendly salutation, " IVha-cheer, 
netop t Wha-cheer ?"* 

* The common English phrase, What cheer ; equivalent to How do you 
do ? they had learnt from the colonists. Netop means friend. 



38 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

After landing and exchanging salutations with the natives, 
he again embarked, and passing round the headlands, now 
known as India Point and Fox Point, he proceeded up the 
river on the west side of the peninsula to a spot near the 
mouth of the Mooshausick. Here Williams and his compan- 
ions landed, and upon the slope of the hill that rises from the 
river commenced the first settlement of Rhode Island. 

' : Oh, call it holy ground, 

The soil where first they trod, 
They have left unstained what there they found, 

Freedom to worship God." 

The town here founded he named Providence, in grateful 
remembrance of " God's merciful providence to him in his 
distress." It was in the spring of 1636 — probably in the 
latter part of June — that this memorable event occurred. 
Here, after enduring so many hardships, was the exiled con- 
fessor to find the haven of rest, and to lay the foundations of 
a state,whieh should " be for a shelter to persons distressed 
for conscience." The " fourteen weeks he was sorely tossed, 
in a bitter winter season," he probably spent in journeying 
among the Indian tribes, in visiting their chiefs, and in ad- 
justing matters for his permanent settlement. His wander- 
ings were in a dense forest, covered with the deep snows of 
winter, tracked by wild beasts, where the scream of the pan- 
ther, the yell of the tiger, and the howl of the wolf, were 
often heard. 

The following lines, by a Rhode Island poet, present a 
graphic illustration of the perils to which Williams was ex- 
posed : — 

" Growling they come, and in dark groups they stand, 
Show the white fang, and roll the bright'ning eye ; 
Till, urged by famine's rage, the shaggy band 

Seemed the flame's bright terrors to defy. 
Then, 'mid the group he hurled the blazing brand — 
Swift they disperse, and raise the scattered cry ; 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 39 

But, rallying, soon back to the siege they came, 
And scarce their rage paused at the mounting flame. 

Yet Williams deemed that persecution took 

A form in them less odious than in men ; 
He on their dreary solitude had broke, — 

Aye, and had trespassed on their native glen. 
His human shape they scarcely too might brook, 

For it had been an enemy to them ; 
But bigot man did into conscience look, 
And for the secret thought his brother struck."* 

In reflecting upon Williams and his little band of exiles in 
1636, our minds must be forcibly struck by tlie contrast the 
country now presents. The primeval forests have fallen 
beneath the woodman's axe ; the war-whoop of the savage 
has long since died away ; cultivation enriches the hills, and 
smiles in the valleys ; agriculture has gained her triumphs 
on the land, and commerce upon the seas ; schools, colleges, 
and churches, adorn the banks of the Mooshausick, and a 
flourishing commonwealth evinces that the broadest religious 
equality is favorable to the progress of civilization and of 
piety. 

* Whatcheer ; or, Roger Williams in Banishment. A Poem, by the late 
Hon. Job. Durfee, LL. D., Chief Justice of the State of Rhode Island. The 
London Eclectic Beview for July, 1838, contains a eulogistic critique on thi? 
poem, from the pen of John Foster. 



CHAPTER VH. 

THE INDIAN TRIBES IN NEW ENGLAND — PURCHASE OF 
LANDS PROM THE INDIANS — SETTLEMENT OF THE COL- 
ONY AT PROVIDENCE — FREEDOM OF ITS GOVERNMENT. 

The history of Roger Williams is so intimately connected 
with that of the Indians, that it is necessary here to give a 
brief sketch of the principal tribes occupying New England 
when it was first settled by the English. The Pokanokets 
inhabited the territory of the colony of Plymouth. This 
tribe included several tributaries, among whom were the 
Wampanoags, the particular tribe of Massasoit, who wel- 
comed the pilgrims to the soil of New England, and opened 
his lodge to shelter the founder of Rhode Island. The Po- 
kanokets and several other tribes, a short period before the 
arrival of the English, had been diminished by the ravages 
of a pestilence to so frightful an extent, that some of the 
tribes were almost extinct. The Narragansetts held domin- 
ion over nearly all the territory which afterwards formed the 
colony of Rhode Island, including the Islands in the Bay, 
and a portion of Long Island. They were tbe most civilized 
and the most faithful to the English of all the New England 
tribes. They had cultivated some of their lands, and were 
skilful in making wampum, or ivampumpeag — a kind of beads 
made of shells, in use among the natives as money. They 
were also the most ingenious manufacturers of pendants, 
bracelets, stone tobacco-pipes, and earthen vessels for cook- 
ing and other domestic uses.* They were a numerous tribe, 

* Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 406. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 41 

and though less warlike than their neighbors, they could 
raise more than four thousand fighting-men. The Pequods 
and Mohegans, the fiercest and most warlike of the New 
England savages, occupied the greater part of that which is 
now the state of Connecticut. They were treacherous as 
well as powerful, and were hostile to the English. The 
Massachusetts dwelt chiefly about the bay which bears their 
name. 

The chiefs, or sachems, of the several Indian tribes, held, 
nominally, the supreme power, and received tribute, but 
they were controlled by the wisdom of the aged men, and 
the energetic eloquence of their young warriors, in their 
councils, where all important questions were discussed. 
" The sachems," says Roger Williams, " although they have 
an absolute monarchy over the people, yet they will not con- 
clude ought that concerns all, either laws, or subsidies, or 
wars, unto which the people are averse, and by gentle per- 
suasion cannot be brought."* There were also subordinate 
chiefs, called sagamores, who held a limited authority. 

The languages and dialects of the several tribes of Indi- 
ans on the continent of America have been estimated by 
Professors Adelung and Yater, and Baron Humboldt, the 
authors of that learned work, the Mithridates, at the aston- 
ishing number of twelve hundred and fourteen. A large pro- 
portion of these, however, appear to have been only varia- 
tions of a few parent languages. The dialects spoken in 
New England are believed to have been varieties of the 
Delaware language, whrch prevailed among the tribes of that 
state, and New Jersey, and a part of New York. Roger 
Williams informs us, that, with his knowledge of the Narra- 
gansett tongue, he " had entered into the secrets of those 
countries wherever the English dwell, about two hundred 
miles between the French and Dutch plantations ;" and he 
adds, that " with this help a man may converse with thou- 

* Key into the Indian Language of America. 



42 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

sands of natives, all over the country." The Massachusetts 
language, into which the the Rev. John Elliott — called the 
Indian apostle — translated the Bible, was radically the same 
as the Narrragansett. Roger Williams published, in 1G43, 
the first vocabulary of an Indian language, a work which 
then attracted much attention, and to which we shall have 
occasion to recur. This language is exceedingly regular, 
copious, and flexible. 

With the tribes which have been mentioned, Williams had 
frequent intercourse, and by his intimacy with several of 
their chiefs, secured their confidence. His success in pur- 
chasing lands, in establishing a new colony, and subsequently 
preserving New England from the fury of the savages, was, 
under God, the result chiefly of his personal influence with 
the Indians. On the Rhode Island side, the two principal 
sachems, to whom a large number of petty chiefs were 
subject, were Canonicus and his nephew, Miantonomoh. 
Their residence was on the island of Canonicut, in the Nar- 
ragansett Bay, about thirty miles south of Providence. Ca- 
nonicus was an old man when Williams entered his domin- 
ions, and the cares of his government devolved chiefly on 
Miantonomoh, who acted as his prime minister, and probably 
his power was adequate, at this time, to have destroyed all 
the colonies of New England. 

They were the owners of the soil where Williams landed, 
and made him a grant for his new colony. By a deed, dated 
the 24th of March, 1638, certain lands and meadows "lying 
upon the two rivers, called MooshausHk and Wanasquatuck- 
et," which he had purchased two years before, were made 
over to hhn by these sachems. They also, in " consideration 
of his many kindnesses and services to them and their 
friends, freely gave unto him all the land lying between the 
above-named rivers and the Pawtuxet." 

Roger Williams was thus the sole negotiator with the In- 
dians, and the legal proprietor of the lands which they ceded 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 43 

to him. In this transaction he acted in accordance with his 
avowed principle, that the Indians were the lawful owners 
of all the lands which they occupied, and that no charters 
from popes or kings could give a right to their territory. He 
says, " I spared no cost towards them, in tokens and presents 
to Canonicus and all his, many years before I came in per- 
son to the Narragansett ; and when I came I was welcome to 
the old prince, Canonicus, who was most shy of all English 
to his last breath." " It was not," he adds, " thousands, nor 
tens of thousands of money, could have bought of him an 
English entrance into this bay, but I was the procurer of the 
purchase by that language, acquaintance, and favor with the 
natives, and other advantages which it pleased God to give 
me." He was obliged to mortgage his house and lands in 
Salem in order to make additional presents and gratuities to 
the sachems, and, consequently to remove his wife and family 
immediately to the new settlement. The lands at Provi- 
dence were conveyed to him alone, and, as he justly remarks, 
" were his as much as any man's coat upon his back." He 
might have been, like William Penn, the proprietary of his 
colony, having secured it by a patent from the rulers in Eng- 
lang, and thus have exercised a control over its government, 
and amassed wealth for himself and family. But he chose to 
found a commonwealth, where all civil power should be ex- 
ercised by the people alone, and which " might be for a shel- 
ter for persons distressed for conscieuce." Thirty-five years 
afterwards he could say, " Here, all over this colony, a great 
number of weak and distressed souls, scattered, are flying- 
hither from Old and New England — the Most High and 
Only Wise hath, in his infinite wisdom, provided this coun- 
try and tliis corner as a shelter for the poor and persecuted, 
according to their several persuasions." 

The lands ceded to Williams he shortly after reconveyed 
as a free gift to the persons who had united with him in form- 
ing the settlement, reserving for himself an equal part only. 



44 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

The town afterwards voted liim thirty pounds, not as an 
equivalent for the land, but as a " loving gratuity." The 
following extract of a document written by Roger Williams, 
and dated Narragansett, 10th of June, 1682, may be appro- 
priately introduced in this place as an evidence of his integ- 
rity and benevolence in his intercourse with the Indians, and 
of their attachment to him : — " I testify, as in the presence 
of the all-making and all-seeing God, that about fifty years 
since, I, coming into this Narragansett country, found a great 
contest between three sachems, two — to-wit, Canonicus and 
jNIiantonomoh — were against Ousamequin, on Plymouth side. 
I was forced to travel between them three, to pacify, to sat- 
isfy, all their and their dependent's spirits of my honest in- 
tentions to live peaceably by them. — I desire posterity to see 
the gracious hand of the Most High — in whose hands are all 
hearts — that when the hearts of my countrymen and friends 
and brethren failed me, his infinite wisdom and mercy stirred 
up the barbarous heart of Canonicus to love me as his son, 
with his last gasp, by which means I had not only Miantono- 
moh and all the Cowesit sachems as my friends, but Ousa- 
mequin also ; who, because of my great friendship with him 
at Plymouth, and the authority of Canonicus, consented 
freely (being also well gratified by me) to my enjoyment of 
Providence itself, and all the other lands I procured of Ca- 
nonicus, which were upon the point, and, in effect, whatso- 
ever I desired of him ; and I never denied him, or Mianto- 
nomoh, whatever they desired of me, as to goods or gifts, or 
use of my boats or pinnace ; and the travels of my own per- 
son, day and night, which, though men know not, nor care 
to know, yet the all-seeing Eye hath seen it, and his all-pow- 
erful hand hath helped me. Blessed be his holy name to 
eternity."* 

The infant community of Providence admitted others to 
the privileges of citizenship, and all were required to sub- 
scribe the following covenant : — 

* Colony Records. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 4,3 

" We, whose names arc hereunder written, being desirous 
to inhabit in the town of Providence, do promise to submit 
ourselves, m active or passive obedience, to all such orders 
or agreements as shall be made for public good of the body 
in an orderly way, by the major consent of the present in- 
habitants, masters of families, incorporated together into a 
township, and such others whom they shall admit unto the 
.same, only in civil things." 

This simple instrument, which embodies the great princi- 
ple for which Williams contended, it is believed, is the ear- 
liest form of government recorded which expressly recogni- 
ses the rights of conscience. The unrestricted religious lib- 
erty which was the basis of the organization of the colony 
has characterised the state of Ehode Island to the present 
day. To her everlasting honor, she has always remained 
true to the principles of her founder— her legislature has 
never assumed the authority of regulating ecclesiastical con- 
cerns, or giving privileges to men of one set of religious 
opinions over those of another, and not a single act of relig- 
ious intolerance has ever disgraced this state. 

The government of Providence remained in the hands of 
its citizens for several years ; and the legislative, judicial, 
and executive acts were performed by a general assembly. 
Two deputies were appointed to preserve order, to settle 
disputes, to call town meetings, to preside in them, and to 
see that their resolutions were executed* Here we have 
an example of a commonwealth without representation, 
which could not exist, except in a small community. 

Soon after Williams had obtained a spot where he might 
rest in peace, he appears to have been settled in his own 
habitation ; for, in a letter written a short time after his 
landing, he says, " Miantonomoh kept his barbarous court 
lately at my house." Mrs. Williams and her two children, 
it is probable, came from Salem to Providence in the sum- 

* Hist, Proyiclence, 2 Mass. Hist. Col. ix p. 183. 



46 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

mer of 1636, in company with several persons who desired 
to join their exiled pastor. 

Williams had been obliged to leave the fields he had plant- 
ed at Seekonk, and when he settled at the month of the 
Mooshausick the season was too far advanced to raise a har- 
vest. No supplies could be derived from the towns of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, as he had been debarred all intercourse with 
them ; and for the means of subsistence for himself and fam- 
ily, he must have depended principally on hunting and fish- 
ing, or upon the simple food obtained from the Indians. But 
he endured all is hardships with heroic and Christian forti- 
tude, cheered with a prophetic confidence that the princi- 
ples to which he so steadfastly adhered would ultimately tri- 
umph. 



CHAPTER vm. 

THE PEQUOD WAR — WILLIAMS PREVENTS THE INDIAN 
LEAGUE, AND SAVES THE COLONIES FROM DESTRUC- 
TION — SERVICES TO MASSACHUSETTS — LETTER TO 
GOVERNOR WINTHROP — THE DEFEAT AND RUIN OF 
THE PEQUODS, 

We must here narrate briefly tlie agency of Roger Williams, 
in averting the imminent danger of a general league among 
the Indians, for the destruction of the New England colo- 
nists. The Pequods. who, as we have already remarked, had 
always been treacherous and hostile to the whites, were en- 
deavoring to unite the neighboring tribes in a war of exter- 
mination against the English. In 1G34, the governor and 
council of Massachusetts Bay had concluded with this tribe 
a treaty of peace and friendship, but no treaty could restrain 
their hostility. In July, 1636, a short time after Williams's 
removal to Providence, they attacked a party of traders in a 
sloop, near Block Island, and murdered John Oldham, one 
of the company, from Massachusetts. The first intelligence 
of the proposed Indian league, and of the murder of Old- 
ham, was communicated by Roger Williams in a letter to 
Governor Vane, at Boston. He harbored no vindictive feel- 
ings against those who had so recently expelled him from the 
colony, but promptly informed his persecutors of the calam- 
ities that threatened to overwhelm them. 

The magistrates of Massachusetts solicited his mediation 
with the Narragansetts, and he immediately accepted the 
hazardous commission, and succeeding in defeating the en- 



48 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

deavors of the Pequods to win over the Narragansetts to a 
coalition. In his letter to Major Mason, who was disting- 
uished for his services in the war we are about to relate, 
Williams has incidentally mentioned his own agency in this 
undertaking, which we give in his simple and energetic lan- 
guage :— 

" Upon letters received from the governor and council of 
Boston, requesting me to use my utmost and speediest en- 
deavors to break and hinder the league labored for by the 
Pequods and Mohegans against the English — excusing the 
not sending of company and supplies by the haste of the 
business— the Lord helped me immediately to put my life 
into my hand, and scarce acquainting my wife, to ship my- 
self alone in a poor canoe, and to cut through a stormy wind, 
with great seas, every minute in hazard of life, to the sa- 
chem's house. Three days and nights my business forced 
me to lodge and mix with the bloody Pequod ambassadors, 
whose hands and arms, methought, reeked with the blood of 
my countrymen, murdered and massacred by them on Con- 
necticut river, and from whom I could not but nightly look 
for their bloody knives at my own throat also. God wond- 
rously preserved me, and helped me to break to pieces the 
Pequod's negotiation and design ; and to make and finish, by 
many travels and changes, the English league with the Nar- 
ragansetts and Mohegans against the Pequods." 

In consequence of the agency of Williams, Miantonomoh, 
the Narragansett sachem, and two sons of Canonicus, with 
a large number of attendants, made a visit to the authorities 
of Massachutetts Bay, at Boston, October, 1636. They were 
received with much parade and demonstration of respect, 
and a treaty of perpetual peace and alliance was concluded 
between the English and the Narragansetts, in which it was 
stipulated that neither party should make peace with the 
hostile Pequods without the consent of the other.* The 

* Winthrop, vol. i. p. 199. Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 61. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 49 

terms of the treaty were arranged by the negotiation of Wil- 
liams, but being written in the English language, and the ex- 
planations of the magistrates being imperfect, it was found 
difficult to make the Indians understand the articles. " We 
agreed," says Governor Winthrop, " to send a copy of them 
to Mr. Williams, who could best interpret them." This 
measure was probably adopted at the request of the Indians. 
who knew that Williams was their friend ; and it is a fact 
that demonstrates the confidence reposed in him, both by the 
Indians and by the government of Massachusetts. 

Thus was Roger AVilliams instrumental, by the pacification 
he accomplished, of saving the feeble settlements of Plymouth 
and Massachusetts from the horrors of a universal savage 
war. But his agency in averting this imminent danger was 
but a part of the services his generous and exalted spirit 
performed for those who had banished him. The Pequods, 
though foiled in their attempts to secure the alliance of the 
Narragansetts, determined, single-handed, to maintain the 
conflict. They immediately commenced hostilities, and pros- 
ecuted the war against the English with all the ferocity of 
savages. They murdered several individuals at work in the 
fields, and the barbarous tortures inflicted upon some of 
them spread a chill of horror through the colonies. The 
alarm was increased by their attack on the fort of Saybrook, 
at the mouth of the Connecticut river. The colonies of 
Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut, resolved imme- 
diately to invade the territory of the Pequods with their 
united forces, and attempt the destruction of this tribe, who 
had meditated the entire extermination of the settlements of 
New England. The following letter written by Roger Wil- 
liams to his friend Governor Winthrop, during the Pequod 
war, shows the invaluable services he rendered to the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts : 

" Sir, — The latter end of the last week I gave notice to 
our neighbor princes of your intentions and preparations 
4 



50 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

against the common enemy, the Pequods. At my first com- 
ing to them, Canonicus (morosus ceque ac barbarus senex) 
was very sour, and accused the English and myself for send- 
ing the plague amongst them, and threatening to kill him es- 
pecially. 

" Such tidings, it seems, were lately brought to his ears by 
some of his flatterers, and our ill-willers. I discerned cause 
of bestirring myself, and staid the longer, and, at last, 
through the mercy of the Most High, I not only sweetened 
his spirit, but possessed him that the plague and other sick- 
nesses were alone in the hand of the one God, who made him 
and us, who, being displeased with the English for lying, 
stealing, idleness, and uncleanness (the natives' epidemical 
sins), smote many thousands of us ourselves with general 
and late mortalities. 

"Miantonomoh kept his barbarous court lately at my 
house, and with him I have far better dealing. He takes 
some pleasure to visit me, and sent me word of his coming 
over again some eight days hence. They pass not a week 
without some skirmishes, though hitherto little loss on either 
side. They were glad of your preparations, and in much 
conference with themselves and others (fishing, de industria, 
for instructions from them), I gathered these observations, 
which you may please, as cause may be, to consider and take 
notice of. 

" 1. They conceive, that to do execution to purpose on 
the Pequods will require, not two or three days and away, 
but a riding by it, and following of the work, to and again, 
the space of three weeks or a month ; that there be a falling 
off and a retreat, as if you were departed, and a falling on 
again within three or four days, when they are returned 
again to their houses securely from their flight. 

" 2. That, if any pinnaces come in ken, they presently 
prepare for flight, women, and old men, and children, to a 
swamp, some three or four miles on the back of them, a mar- 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 5] 

vellous great and secure swamp, which they called Ohomo* 
wauke, which signifies owl's nest, and by another name, 
Cappacommock, which signifies a refuge or hiding-place, as 
I conceive. 

"3. That, therefore, Niantick (which is Miantonomoh's 
place of rendezvous) be thought on for the riding and re- 
tiring to of vessel or vessels, which place is faithful to the 
Narragansetts, and at present enmity with the Pequod . 

" 4. They also conceive it easy for the English, that the pro- 
visions and munitions first arrive at Aquetneck, called by us 
Rhode Island, at the Narragansett's mouth, and then a mes- 
senger may be despatched hither, and so to the bay, for the 
soldiers to march up by land to the vessels, who otherwise 
might spend long time about the cape, and fill more vesssls 
than needs. 

"5. That the assault should be made in the night, when 
they are commonly more secure and at home, by which ad- 
vantage, the English, being armed, may enter the houses, 
and do what execution they please. 

" 6. That before the assault be given, an ambush be laid 
behind them, between them and the swamp, to prevent their 
flight, &c. 

" 7. That, to that purpose, such guides as shall be best 
liked of, be taken along to direct, especially two Pequods, 
viz., Wequash and Wuttackquiackommin, valiant men, es- 
pecially the latter, who have lived these three or four years 
with the Narragansetts, and know every pass and passage 
among them, who desire armor to enter their houses. 

" 8. That it would be pleasing to all natives that women 
and children be spared, &c. 

" 9. That if there be any more land travel to Connecticut, 
some course would also be taken with the Wunnashowatuc- 
koogs, who are confederates with, and a refuge to, the Pe- 
quods. - 

" Sir, if anything be sent to the princes, I find that Ca* 



52 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

nonicus would gladly accept of a box of eight or ten pound 
of su»-ar, and, indeed, he told me he would thank Mr. Gov- 
ernor for a box full. 

" Sir, you may please to take notice of a rude view how 
the Pequods lie. [Here follows, in the original, a rude map 
of the Pequod and Mohegan country.] 

" Thus, with my best salutes to your worthy selves and 
loving friends with you, and daily cries to the Father of 
mercies for a merciful issue to all these enterprises, I rest, 
" Your worship's unfeignedly respective, 

"■ Roger Williams." 

Of the English forces engaged in this battle, Massachu- 
setts sent one hundred and twenty men, under the command 
of General Stoughton, with the Rev. Mr, Wilson, of Boston, 
as their chaplain. The troops marched by the way of Prov- 
idence, and were hospitably entertained by Williams. Pie 
accompanied the expedition to the Narragansett country, 
where, by his influence, he established a mutual confidence 
between the troops and the Indians. He then returned to 
Providence, and at the request of the commander, during 
the war, which continued nearly a year, he acted as a medi- 
um of intercourse between the army and the government of 
Massachusetts. This war was terminated by an attack upon 
Mystic fort, near a river of that name in Connecticut, made 
by Major Mason, in May, 1637. About five or six hundred 
Pequods had taken refuge in this fort, and fortified it with 
palisades, which offered but a feeble defence against the mil- 
itary tactics and the fire-arms of the English. The Pequods 
made a desperate resistance, but their simple weapons killed 
and wounded but a few of the assailants. The action lasted 
an hour, and terminated in the burning of the fort and the 
destruction of all its inmates, except a few prisoners. The 
forces of the colonists engaged in the battle were seventy- 
seven men from Connecticut and Massachusetts, and several 
hundred Narragansetts and other friendly Indians. The 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 53 

principal force from Massachusetts, under General Stough- 
ton, did not arrive till a few days after the action. The bat- 
tle against the Pequods was fought by the whites, the friendly 
Indians doing little service, except to intercept the fugitives. 

A short time after, a considerable number of the Pequods 
were killed in a battle in a great swamp, and the surviving 
remnant of the tribe, about two hundred, surrendered. " Of 
this number," says Dr. Holmes, " the English gave eighty to 
Miantonomoh, and twenty to Ninigret, two sachems of Nar- 
ragansett, and the other hundred to Uncas, sachem of the 
Mohegans, to be received and treated as their men. A num- 
ber of the male children were sent to Bermuda. Howevor 
just the occasion of this war, humanity demands a tear on 
the extinction of a valiant tribe, which preferred death to 
what it might naturally anticipate from the progress of Eng- 
lish settlements — dependence or extirpation."* Saccacus, 
the Pequod sachem, was treacherously murdered by the Mo- 
hawks, to whom he had fled for protection. Such was the 
terror which this victory spread through all the tribes of 
New England, that they refrained from open hostilities for 
nearly forty years. 

We have seen the part which Roger Williams took in this 
contest, and may ascribe to his agency, and knowledge of 
the Indian character and language, a large share in produc- 
ing its favorable issue. A solemn thanksgiving was pro- 
claimed by the colony of Massachusetts Bay, at the close of 
the war, on account of the victory and of the signal deliver- 
ance experienced by their general and his troops, who had 
returned without the loss of a single soldier. But the mag- 
istrates passed no vote of thanks to Williams, who had been 
successful in frustrating the designs of the Pequods, which, 
as an eminent American historian observes, was, " the most 
intrepid and most successful achievement in the whole war ; 
an action as perilous in its execution as it was fortunate in 

* Holmes's Annals, vol. i. p. 241. 



54 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

its issue."* Some of the leading men of the colony felt that 
he was entitled to an acknowledgement for his constant and 
faithful services. He himself relates, that Governor Win- 
throp, and " some other of the council, motioned, and it was 
debated, whether or no I had not merited, not only to be 
recalled from banishment, but also to be honored with some 
mark of favor. It is known who hindered, who never pro- 
moted the liberty of other men's consciences."! It was not 
Roger Williams himself so much as his principles, that the 
authorities of Massachusetts could not endure, and the fear 
of their contagious influence overcame the sentiment of grat- 
itude for his invaluable services. A mistaken sense of duty 
confirmed them in their intolerance, and the decree of ban- 
ishment was never revoked. It is mournful thus to trace 
the influence of bigotry in extinguishing some of the finest 
emotions of our nature, even when it does not proceed so for 
as to quench every feeling of humanity in the destruction of 
its objects. In this milder form we may often see it dis- 
played even at the present day. 

* Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. i. p. 399. 
t Letter to Major Mason. The allusion is to Governor Dudley, who was 
particularly opposed to toleration. At his death, some verses, written in his 
own hand, were found in his pocket, of which the two following lines made a 
a part :— 

;: Let men of God in court and churches watch 
O'er such as do a toleration hatch." 



CHAPTER IX. 

CONDITION OF PROVIDENCE — LAW TO PROTECT CON- 
SCIENCE—MRS. HUTCHINSON IS BANISHED FROM MAS- 
SACHUSETTS — HER ADHERENTS ARE WELCOMED AT 
PROVIDENCE — SETTLEMENT ON RHODE ISLAND COM- 
MENCED — THE AGENCY OF WILLIAMS IN ITS PURCHASE. 

The settlement at Providence was rapidly increased by the 
arrival of persons from the other colonies, and from Europe, 
who fled thither to enjoy soul-liberty. So tenaciously did 
the little colony adhere to this principle, that they disfran- 
chised one of their citizens for refusing to allow his wife to 
attend public worship as often as she wished. It deserves 
notice, as the earliest record in that colony of a struggle aris- 
ing out of the law of liberty. 

The wife of Joshua Verrin was desirous of attending the 
ministry of Mr. Williams. Her husband refused to permit 
her to do so, and the little community, considering their fun- 
damental principle had been infringed, was immediately in 
oreat excitement. A town meeting was called on the sub- 
ject, and a warm debate ensued. The following act was 
passed; viz. — "It was agreed that Joshua Yerrin, upon 
breach of covenant for restraining liberty of conscience, 
shall be withheld from liberty of voting, till he shall declare 
the contrary." We cannot fail to notice the admirable adap- 
tation of the punishment to the offence. The husband who 
would deprive his wife of her religious rights, is condemned to 
lose one of his own most valuable civil rights, until he shows 



56 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

repentance. The inhabitants of Providence maintained that 
our duties to God are paramount to all human obligations, 
and that if Mrs. Verrin, after faithfully discharging her do- 
mestic claims, felt herself in conscience bound to attend Mr. 
Williams's meetings, it was a right which could not be sur- 
rendered. Here we have an example of the just interfer- 
ence of law to protect conscience. 

The banishment of Roger Williams, and the voluntary 
exile of many of his adherents, did not secure uniformity of 
religious sentiment, or put an end to the unhappy divisions 
and contentions in Massachusetts Bay. New opinions mul- 
tiplied, and spread alarm throughout the colony. At a gen- 
eral synod held at Cambridge, on the 30th of August, 1637, 
and attended by the ministers and magistrates, they denoun- 
ced no less than eighty -two opinions as being erroneous. 
The synod spent three weeks in debate, and finished the ses- 
sion by condemning these errors, and pronouncing judgment 
on certain points of discipline. 

Of these opinions, the most dreaded were those promul- 
gated by Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, who, with her husband, 
came to Boston, from England, in 1636. She united a mas- 
culine spirit to a somewhat fanatical character, and possessed 
considerable talent. The opinions ascribed to her, by the 
historians of the time, related to such points as the nature of 
the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the person of the be- 
liever, and the connection between sanctification and justifi- 
cation ; and from her peculiar views of these doctrines con- 
sequences were deduced, which she did not admit. Mrs. 
Hutchinson set np a meeting of females in her own house, 
and a large portion of the members of the Boston church es- 
poused her cause. Governor Vane, Rev. John Cotton, and 
other distinguished individuals, treated her with great res- 
pect ; a sufficient proof that she was not guilty of any civil 
offence. 

The effect of the Svnod at Cambridge was to increase the 



LIFE OF HOGER WILLIAMS. 57 

asperity of the controversy. At length the magistrates in- 
terposed, and Mrs. Hutchinson was summoned before the 
General Court, on a charge of heresy ; found guilty, and 
sentenced to be banished from the colony. Rev. John 
Wheelwright, her brother-in-law, and William Aspinwall, 
the leading advocates of her opinions, were sharers in her 
banishment. The court, at the same time, proceeded to a 
measure still more extraordinary. Upon the pretence that 
the principles held by the disciples of Mrs. Hutchinson might 
impel them to disturb the peace of the community, nearly 
sixty of the citizens of Boston, and a number in other towns, 
were required to give up their arms and ammunition, and 
were forbidden, under a penalty of ten pounds, to buy or 
borrow any others, until permitted by the court.* An act, 
passed at the same session, decreed a severe punishment for 
all persons who should speak evil of the judges and magis- 
trates. We have given a recital of these events, because 
they had an important influence upon the settlement at 
Providence, and illustrate the mischiefs which result from an 
interference by the civil magistrate in ecclesiastical affairs. 
If Mrs. Hutchinson had been permitted by the ministers and 
magistrates to continue her meetings and lectures unnoticed, 
it is probable her zeal would soon have moderated, and she 
would have laid aside her character as reformer. Their 
injudicious censures exalted her opinions into undue impor- 
tance, and her banishment deprived the colony of a large 
number of citizens, and would have ruined a community less 
intelligent and pious. 

Many of the persons who had thus been proscribed by 
the government of Massachusetts, departed from Boston, 
under the superintendence of John Clarke, a learned phy- 
sician, and proceeded southward, with a design to settle on 
Long Island, or upon the shores of Delaware Bay. At Pro- 
vidence they were kindly received by Roger Williams, who 
advised them to form a settlement on the island of Aquet- 
* Winthrop, vol. i. p. 247. 



58 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

neck, now called Rhode Island, which gives name to the 
state. This beautiful island was beyond the limits both of 
Plymouth and Massachusetts, and the adventurers were at- 
tracted by its rich soil and salubrious climate. Accordingly, 
they resolved to abandon their journey southward, and obtain 
a grant of the island from the sachems of Narragansetts. By 
the friendly and powerful influence of Roger Williams, they 
purchased of Canonicus and Miantonomoh, Aquetneck and 
other islands in the Narragansett Bay. He has left us an 
account of his agency in negotiating the purchase in a letter 
written in 1658. 

" It was not price nor money that could have purchased 
Rhode Island. Rhode Island was obtained by love ; by the love 
and favor which that honorable gentleman, Sir Henry Vane, 
and myself, had with that great sachem, Miantononioh, about 
the league, which I procured between the Massachusetts Eng- 
lish and the Narragansetts in the Pequod war. It is true I 
advised a gratuity to be presented to the sachem and to the 
natives; and because Mr. Coddington and the rest of my 
loving countrymen were to inhabit the place, and to be at 
the charge of the gratuities, I drew up a writing in Mr. Cod- 
dington's name, and in the names of such of my loving coun- 
trymen as came up with him, and put it into as sure a form 
as I could at that time, for the benefit and assurance of the 
present and future inhabitants of the island." 

In another manuscript he tells us — " The Indians were 
very shy and jealous of selling the lands to any, and chose 
rather to make a grant of them to such as they effected, but, 
at the same time, expected such gratuities and rewards as 
made an Indian gift oftentimes a very dear bargain." "And 
he colony, in 1666," says Callender, " averred, that though 
the favor Mr. Williams had with Miantonomoh was the great 
means of procuring the grants of the land, yet the purchase 
had been dearer than cf any lands in New England."* The 
deed of session was signed by the sachem, March 24, 1638. 
* R. I. Hist. Coll. vol. iv p. 84. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 59 

The little colony soon became so populous as to send out 
settlers to the adjacent shores. To this pleasant and quiet 
retreat, Mr. Hutchinson, with his family, removed from Mas- 
sachusetts. It does not appear that Mrs. Hutchinson occa- 
sioned any disturbance at Rhode Island ; but, removed from 
the control of those who assumed the office of inquisitors into 
her religious opinions, she led a quiet and peaceable life. 
On the death of her husband, in 1642, she removed to the 
neighborhood of New York, where a deeply affecting trage- 
dy occurred. The year following, she was murdered by the 
Indians, and all the members of her family, amounting to 
sixteen persons, shared the same fate, with the exception of 
one daughter, who was carried into captivity. 

While Roger Williams was generously devoting his time 
and property to rescue his countrymen from destruction by 
the savages, and assisting in the establishment of a neighbor- 
ing settlement at Rhode Island, his own colony was increas- 
ing under the benign influence of spiritual freedom. The 
late arbitrary measures adopted by Massachusetts Bay against 
Mrs. Hutchinson, and her adherents, drove from that colony 
a large number of its citizens, and made Providence a wel- 
come home to some of the fugitives. It could not be expect- 
ed that the persons whom the government had expelled from 
her jurisdiction would entertain very favorable opinions of 
such a proceeding. While the general court was in session, 
March, 1638, "there came a letter directed to the court from 
John Greene of Providence, who, not long before, had been 
imprisoned and fined for saying, that the magistrates had 
usurped upon the power of Christ in his Church." In con- 
sequence of this, and suspecting others to be confederate in 
the same letter, it was ordered, that if any one of the inhabi- 
tants of Providence should be found within the jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts, "he should be brought before one of the 
magistrates ; and if he would not disclaim the charge in the 
said letter, he should be sent home and charged to come no 



60 LIFE OF EOGER WILLIAMS. 

more into this jurisdiction, upon pain of imprisonment and 
further censure."* This act operated to the very serious 
disadvantage of the settlers at Providence, and "Williams 
himself complained that man)* thousand pounds would not 
repay the losses he sustained in " being debarred from Bos- 
ton, the chief mart and port of Xew England," and from 
" trading with the English and natives" of Massachusetts. 
So great was the scarcity of paper from this cause among 
the settlers of Providence, that Governor Hopkins observes, 
" the first of their writings that are to be found appear on 
small scraps of paper, wrote as thick, and crowded as full as 
possible." But this cruel law deprived them of articles of 
still greater necessity, and they must have often been re- 
duced to actual want. In referring to this period of his life, 
Williams says, " My time was spent day and night, at home 
and abroad, on the land and water, at the hoe and at the oar, 
for bread." Xo injuries to himself or his fellow-settlers, 
however, could provoke him to refuse Ins good offices on be- 
half of the neighboring colonies, in order to preserve harmo- 
ny between them and the Indians. 

In "Winthrop's Journal there are repeated allusions to in- 
formation received from Roger Williams, respecting the na- 
tives, and services rendered by him to Massachusetts. An 
event occurred about this time which deserves to be men- 
tioned, as it exemplifies the character of "Williams, and re- 
flects honor upon the colonists in their transactions with the 
Indians. Four young Englishmen, who had been servants in 
Plymouth, and had absconded from their masters, attacked 
an Indian near Providence, but within the Plymouth colony. 
After inflicting upon him a mortal wound they fled to Provi- 
dence, where they were received by Mr. Williams with his 
usual hospitality, for he was yet ignorant of their character 
and crime. After their departure he was informed of the 
atrocious act they had perpetrated, and immediately des- 

* Winthrop, vol. i. p. 258. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. Gl 

patched messengers for their apprehension. He then set out 
himself" with two or three other persons, in search of the 
wounded Indian. They conveyed him to Providence, but 
all efforts to preserve his life were unavailing. The murder- 
ers were soon arrested and brought to Providence ; and, by 
the advice of Governor Winthrop, they were sent to Ply- 
month, within whose jurisdiction the murder had been com- 
mitted. One of the prisoners made his escape ; but the re- 
maining three were tried for murder, confessed the crime, 
and were executed in the presence of Mr. Williams and the 
Indians. This vindication of law and the rights of the na- 
tives secured their confidence. 

"Winthrop relates another circumstance that evinces the 
implicit confidence the Indians reposed in Roger Williams. 
Rumors were circulated that the Indians were plotting new 
mischief against the colonists. The government of Massa- 
chusetts strengthened the defences of the towns, and sent an 
officer, with three men and an interpreter, to the Narragan- 
setts to ascertain the truth of the rumors, and to invite their 
sachem to Boston. Miantonomoh denied any hostile inten- 
tions, and expressed his readiness to visit Boston, provided 
Mr. Williams might accompany him as his adviser. But the 
authorities of Massachusetts would not relax the sentence of 
banishment, even for the advantage of a personal interview 
with the sachem, and in a matter so important to the peace 
and welfare of the colony. 

In 1640, the tranquility of Providence was disturbed by 
disputes respecting the boundaries of lands ; and a commit- 
tee was appointed authorized to terminate these dissensions 
by arbitration. The report of this committee is highly char- 
acteristic of the community. One of its prominent articles 
is in these words : — " We agree, as formerly hath been the 
liberties of the town, so still to It old forth liberty of 'conscience :" 
From the social feuds which had arisen, it became evident to 
the sagacious mind of Williams that a more energetic gov- 



62 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

ernment was necessary, and the citizens of Providence es- 
tablished a form of civil polity which they deemed most suit- 
able to promote peace and order in their present circum- 
stances. 

The government on Rhode Island was also more regular- 
ly organized the same year, and the acts passed show that 
the settlements there and at Providence were founded on the 
same principles. On the 16th of March, 1641, it was or- 
dered, by the authority of the general court, " that none be 
accounted a delinquent for doctrine, provided it be not di- 
rectly repugnant to the government or laws established." 
And in September following, they passed a special act, " that 
that law concerning liberty of conscience in point of doc- 
trine be perpetuated." 



CHAPTER X. 

LEAGUE OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES — THE SET- 
TLEMENTS IN RHODE ISLAND EXCLUDED — WILLIAMS^ 
FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND — PUBLISHES HIS KEY TO 
THE INDIAN LANGUAGES — OBTAINS A CHARTER — HIS 
LETTER TO COTTON — " THE BLOUDY TENENT"— HE 
RETURNS TO AMERICA — HIS RECEPTION AT BOSTON 
AND PROVIDENCE. 

In the year 1642, the colonists of New England were alarmed 
by reports of hostile designs on the part of the Indians, and 
they accordingly adopted vigorous measures of defence. 
The natives were becoming more formidable by their acqui- 
sition of fire-arms and ammunition, from the English and 
Dutch traders. 

The following year is memorable in the history of New 
England, by the establishment of the earliest confederacy of 
the colonies. The articles of union were signed at Boston, 
on the 19th of May, 1643, by the commissioners of the four 
colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and 
New Haven, under the name of " the United Colonies of 
New England." 

The objects of the confederation were, mutual protection 
against the depredations committed by the natives, together 
with the enjoyment of " the liberty of the gospel, in purity 
with peace, and the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ." By the articles, it was stipulated, that two commis- 
sioners should be annually chosen by each colony, to meet 
successively at Boston, Hartford, New Haven, and Plymouth, 



64 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

once a year, or oftener if necessary, and that this congress 
should determine questions of peace or war, and consult for 
the general welfare. This league had a beneficial effect, 
and was continued till the year 1686. 

The colony at Providence was not invited to join this con- 
federacy, and her subsequent application for admission, like 
that of the neighboring colony on Rhode Island, was refused. 
The want of a charter was at first the reason alleged, but 
when this objection was removed there was no disposition to 
admit her to the privileges of the league. The entire sepa- 
ration of the ecclesiastical from the civil power, which formed 
the basis of her legislation, was undoubtedly the principal 
cause of her exclusion. Providence was thus exposed to 
many inconveniences and dangers, and left without defence, 
except by her own citizens. But the powerful influence of 
Roger Williams with the Indians preserved the colony, 
amidst the perils to which the confederate colonies had aban- 
doned her. 

The authorities of Massachusetts, not satisfied with having 
driven Williams and others from their territory, by their op- 
pressive measures against conscience, laid claim to jurisdic- 
tion over the settlements in Narragansett Bay. The in- 
creasing prosperity of the colonies at Providence and on 
Rhode Island, their exclusion from the confederacy, and the 
declarations of their enemies that they had no legal authority 
for civil government, led the inhabitants to feel the great im- 
portance of obtaining a charter from the mother country. 
At an assembly in Newport, September 19, 1642, a commit- 
tee was appointed, with instructions to procure a charter, 
who entrusted the agency to Roger Williams. He agreed, 
on behalf of that colony and his own, to visit England, and, 
if possible, obtain a charter defining their rights, and giving 
them independent authority, free from the vexatious interfe- 
rence of the other colonies. 

He proceeded to New York to embark for England — for 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 65 

he was not permitted to enter the territories of Massachu- 
setts, and sail from the more convenient port of Boston. At 
Manhattoes, while waiting for the ship to go to sea, he had 
an opportunity of exerting his influence to preserve that 
colony from the merciless attacks of the Indians. The sava- 
ges of Long Island, provoked by the wanton cruelties of the 
Dutch, had assailed them with great fury. They had burned 
many houses in the neighborhood of Manhattoes ; murdered 
several persons, among whom were Mrs. Hutchinson and her 
family ; and assaulted the dwelling of Lady Moody, who had 
lately removed thither from Massachusetts. It was by the 
immediate interposition of Williams that peace was restored 
between the inhabitants of the Dutch settlements and their 
barbarous foes. In June, 1643, Williams embarked at New 
York for his native land, but he has left no account of the 
incidents of the voyage. He has, however, recorded one 
fact which evinces the activity of his mind on the ocean as 
well as on the land, and exemplifies the sentiment so beauti- 
fully expressed in one of his works — " One grain of time's 
inestimable sand is worth a golden mountain." He informs 
us that he employed his leisure, during the voyage, in pre- 
paring a " Key to the Indian Languages." " I drew 
the materials," he says, " in a rude lump, at sea, as a private 
help to my own memory ; that I might not, by my present 
absence, lightly lose what I had so dearly bought in some 
few years' hardship and changes among the barbarians."* 
This book was published soon after his arrival in England, 
and was the first work ever written on the language and 
manners of the American Indians.f The work evinces much 
industry and acuteness in collecting the words and phrases 
of an unwritten language, and contains valuable information 

* Key, p. 17. 

t It is entitled, " A Key into the Language of America ; or, a Help to the 
Language of the Natives, in that part of America called New England ; to- 
gether with brief Observations of the Customs, Manners, Worship, &c. By 
Eoger Williams, of Providence, in New England. London, 1643." 
5 



QQ LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

concerning the various topics of which it treats. It is dedica- 
ted to his " well-beloved friends and countrymen in Old and 
New England." In this dedication he says, " This Key res- 
pects the native language of it, and happily may unlock some 
rarities concerning the natives themselves, not yet discover- 
ed. A little key may open a box where lies a bunch of 
keys." He shows his benevolent zeal for the welfare of the 
natives, and professes his hope that his book may contribute 
to the spread of Christianity among them, " being comforta- 
bly persuaded that that Father of spirits who was graciously 
pleased to persuade Japheth (the Gentile) to dwell in the 
tents of Shem (the Jews), will, in his holy season (I hope 
approaching), persuade these Gentiles of America to par- 
take of the mercies of Europe ; and then shall be fulfilled 
what is written by the prophet Malachi, ' from the rising of 
the sun (in Europe) to the going down of the same (in 
America) my name shall be great among the Gentiles.' " 

The Key comprises one hundred and ninety-seven pages 
of small duodecimo, and is divided into thirty-two chapters, 
the titles of which are — Of Salutation ; of Eating and En- 
tertainment ; of Sleep ; of their Numbers ; of Relations and 
Consanguinity ; of their Religion ; of their Government ; 
&c. Each chapter closes with pious reflections. As this 
work is now exceedingly rare in this country,* we present 
an extract — which will interest the curious reader — from the 
twenty-first chapter, " Of Religion, the Soul, &c." 

" Manit, Mannittowock, God, Gods. 

" Obs. — He that questions whether God made the world, 
the Indians will teach him. I must acknowledge I have re- 
ceived, in my converse with them, many confirmations of 
those two great points, Heb. xi. 6 ; viz. — 

" 1. That God is. 

* Only five or six copies of the original edition are known to exist. It 
was published entire in vol. i. of the Collections of the Rhode Island Historical 
Society, Providence, 1827. 






LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. G7 

"That he is a re warder of all them that diligently sivk 
him. 

" They will generally confess that God made all ; but then, 
in special, although they deny not that Englishman's God 
made Englishmen, and the heavens and earth there, yet 
their gods made them, and the heavens and earth where they 
dwell. 

" Nvmmus quauna — muckqun manit. God is angry with 
me. 

" If they receive any good in hunting, fishing, harvest, &c, 
fchey acknowledge God in it. 

" Yea, if it be but an ordinary accident, a fall, &c, they 
will say, God was angry, and did it. 

" Musquantum man It. God is angry. 

" But herein is their misery : — 

" First. They branch their godhead into many gods. 

" Secondly. Attribute it to creatures. 

" First. Many gods : they have given me the names of 
thirty-seven, which I have, all which, in their solemn wor- 
ship, they invocate ; as, 

" Kautantowit. The great south-west god, to whose house 
all souls go, and from whom came their corn and beans, as 
they say. 

" Wompanand. The eastern god. 

" Chekesuwand. The western god. 

" Wunnanameanit. The northern god. 

" Soiowanand. The southern god. 

" Wetuomanit. The house 'god. 

" Squauanit. The woman's god. 

" MuckquacliuckquaiuL The children's god. 

" Secondly. As they have many of these feigned deities, 
so worship they the creatures in whom they conceive doth 
rest some deity : 

" Keesuckquand. The sun god. 

" Nanepausliat. The moon god. 



68 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

" Poumpagussit. The sea god. 
" Yotaanit. The fire god. 
" Supposing that deities be in these," &c. 
The work breathes throughout a spirit of piety, and closes 
with the following devout aspirations : — 

" Now, to the most high and most holy, immortal, invisi- 
ble, and only wise God, who alone is alpha and omega, the 
becinnino- and the ending, the first and the last, who was, 
and is, and is to come ; from whom, by whom, and to whom, 
are all things ; by whose gracious assistance and wonderful 
supportment, in so many varieties of hardship and outward 
miseries, I have had such converse with barbarous nations, 
and have been mercifully assisted, to frame this poor Key, 
which may, through his blessing, in his own holy season, 
open a door — yea, doors of unknown mercies to us and 
them, be honor, glory, power, riches, wisdom, goodness, and 
dominion, ascribed by all his in Jesus Christ to eternity. 
Amen." 

Ro^er Williams arrived in England when the nation was 
convulsed by the civil war, and but a few months after the 
death of the illustrious Hampden. Charles had already fled 
from London, and parliament were in possession of the 
executive and legislative authority. This state of affairs was, 
in some respects, favorable to the successful accomplishment 
of the mission of Williams. The issue of the conflict be- 
tween the king and the parliament was then very doubtful, 
and the latter were disposed to strengthen themselves by 
conciliating the colonies in America. In March, 1643, the 
House of Commons passed a resolution in favor of New 
England, exempting its imports and exports from customs, 
subsidy or taxation. By an ordinance, November 3rd, 1643, 
a short time after the arrival of Williams, parliament ap- 
pointed the earl of Warwick governor-in-chief and lord high 
admiral of the American colonies, with a council of five 
peers and twelve eonunoners. It empowered him, together 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 69 

with his associates, to examine the state of their affairs, to 
send for papers and persons, to remove governors and officers, 
and appoint others in their places, and to assign to these such 
part of the power granted as he should think proper.* 
From these commissioners, Roger Williams, aided by the in- 
fluence of his early friend, Sir Henry Vane, one of their 
number, easily obtained a charter for the colony of Rhode 
Island. It was dated March 17, 1644, and granted to the 
inhabitants of the towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and 
Newport, " a free and absolute charter of civil incorporation,'' 
to be entitled, The incorporation of Providence plantations, 
in the Narragansett Bay in New England. The instrument 
conveyed to the inhabitants of these towns the most ample 
powers to adopt such a form of civil government, and " to 
make and ordain such civil laws and constitutions, as they, 
or the greatest part of them, shall by free consent agree un- 
to, provided, nevertheless, that the said laws for the planta- 
tion be conformable to the laws of England, so far as the 
nature and constitution of that place will admit." 

While in England, Williams published a small quarto vol- 
ume, entitled, " Mr. Cotton's Letter, lately printed, Exam- 
ined and Answered. By Roger Williams, of Providence, in 
New England. London, imprinted in the year 1644." It 
is preceded by an address to " the impartial reader," from 
which it appears, that, soon after Williams's banishment, in 
the time of his " distressed wanderings amongst the barbari- 
ans," Mr. Cotton sent him a letter in which he justifies that 
persecuting act of the magistrates in banishing him, but de- 
nies that he had any agency in the matter. Williams, in 
this work, states the causes, which led to his banishment, 
shows " the sandiness of the grounds" on which they rested, 
the " rocky strength" of his own opinions, and concludes by 
desiring " Mr. Cotton and every soul to whom these lines 
may come, seriously to consider in this controversy, if the 

* Holmes's Anrtais, vol. i. p. 273. 



70 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

Lord Jesus were himself in person in Old or New England, 
what church, what ministry, what worship, what government, 
he would set up, and what persecution he would practise to- 
ward them that would not receive him." Its tone is cour- 
teous, and he speaks of liis great antagonist, the Rev. John 
Cotton, as a man " whom for his personal excellences I truly 
honor and love." Mr. Cotton had been a minister of Bos- 
ton, in England, and the city of Boston, in Massachusetts. 
was named after his former place of residence, as a compli- 
ment to this eminent man. He was unquestionably a very 
talented preacher, and if he had lived at a period when the 
rights of conscience were better understood, his powerful 
pen, we doubt not, would have been differently employed. 
During Williams's residence in England, he also published 
an anonymous pamphlet, entitled, " Queries of Highest Con- 
sideration proposed to Mr. Thomas Goodwin — presented to 
the High Court of Parliament, London, 1644."* It is a 
quarto of thirteen pages, and contains clear and accurate 
observations on the distinct provinces of civil and ecclesias- 
tical authority. 

Notwithstanding the engrossing nature of his mission in 
obtaining the charter for Rhode Island, and the great na- 
tional conflict, in which he must have felt the deepest inter- 
est, Williams found leisure to prepare for the press his cele- 
brated book entitled, " The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution,, 
for Cause of Conscience, discussed in a Conference between 
Truth and Peace ; who, in all tender affection, present to the 
High Court of Parliament (as the result of their discourse) 
these, amongst other, passages of highest consideration. 
London. Printed in the year 1G44." The origin of this 
work illustrates the spirit of the age. A person, who was 
confined in Newgate on account of his religious opinions, 
wrote a treatise against persecution for cause of conscience. 
Being deprived of the use of ink, it was written with milk* 

* Orme*s Life of Owen, p. 100. Cotton's Answer, p. 2. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 71 

on sheets of paper sent by a friend, as stoppers to the bottle 
containing his daily allowance of milk. After its publica- 
tion, the essay was sent about the year 1G35, to the Rev. 
John Cotton, of Boston, who wrote a reply, of which Wil- 
liams's book is an examination. Its title, " The Bloudy Ten- 
ent," is chosen to exhibit, in strong contrast, the different 
character of the two essays — the one, toleration, written with 
milk; and, the other, persecution, steeped in blood. 

The book comprises two hundred and forty-seven pages 
of small quarto, and is printed without the name of the au- 
thor or publisher. It is dedicated " to the Right Honorable 
both Houses of the High Court of Parliament ;" and it ap- 
pears to have attracted the attention of some of the leading 
men in England. After an address " to every courteous 
reader," the treatise of the prisoner, and Mr. Cotton's reply, 
are inserted ; then follows the main work, which is in the 
form of a dialogue between Truth and Peace. It was pre- 
pared for publication, as the author himself observes, " in 
change of rooms and corners, yea, sometimes in variety of 
strange houses ; sometimes in the fields, in the midst of tra- 
vel;" yet it is the best of his works, and contains a full exhi- 
tion of his doctrines of religious- freedom, supported by lu- 
minous and powerful reasoning. His st}de is generally ani- 
mated, and often highly beautiful. 

The colloquy between Truth and Peace commences thus : — 

" Truth. — In what dark corner of the world, sweet Peace, 
are we two met ? Plow hath this present evil world ban- 
ished me from all the coasts and quarters of it V and how 
hath the righteous God in judgment taken thee from the 
earth ? Rev. vi. 4. 

" Peace. — 'Tis lamentably true, blessed Truth, the foun- 
dations of the world have long been out of course. The 
gates of earth and hell have conspired together to intercept 
our joyful meeting and our holy kisses. With what a weary, 
tired wing have I flown over nations, kingdoms, cities, towns, 
to find out precious Truth. 



72 LIFE OF ROGEE WILLIAMS. 

" Truth. — The like inquiries in my flights and travels have 
I made for Peace, and still am told, she hath left the earth 
and fled to heaven. 

" Peace. — Dear Truth, what is the earth but a dungeon of 
darkness, where Truth is not ?" 

A complete analysis of this work would occupy too much 
space, but a syllabus is presented in the author's own 
words : — 

" The blood of so many hundred thousand souls, of pro- 
testants and papists, spilt in the wars of present and former 
ages, for their respective consciences, is not required nor ac- 
cepted by Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. — Pregnant 
scriptures and arguments are, throughout the work, pro- 
posed against the doctrine of persecution for cause of con- 
science. — Satisfactory answers are given to scriptures and 
objections produced by Mr. Calvin, Beza, Mr. Cotton, and 
the ministers of the New English Churches, and others, 
former and latter, tending to prove the doctrine of persecu- 
tion for cause of conscience. — The doctrine of persecution 
for cause of conscience is proved guilty of all the blood of 
the souls crying for vengeance under the altar. — All civil 
states, with their officers of justice, in their respective con- 
stitutions and administrations, are proved essentially civil, 
and, therefore, not judges, governors, or defenders of the 
spiritual or christian state and worship. — It is the will and 
command of God that, since the coming of his Son the Lord 
Jesus, a permission of the most paganish, Jewish, Turkish, 
or anti-christian consciences and worships be granted to all 
men in all nations and countries ; and they are only to be 
fought against with that sword which is only in soul matters 
able to conquer ; to wit, the sword of God's Spirit, the "Word 
of God. — The state of the land of Israel, the kings and peo- 
ple thereof, in peace and war, is proved, figurative and cere- 
monial, and no pattern or precedent for any kingdom or 
civil state in the world to follow. — God requireth not an uni- 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 73 

formity of religion to be enacted and enforced in any civil 
state ; which enforced uniformity, sooner or later, is the 
greatest occasion of civil war, ravishing of conscience, per- 
secution of Jesus Christ in his servants, and of the hypocri- 
sy and destruction of millions of souls. — In holding an en- 
forced uniformity of religion in a civil state, we must neces- 
sarily disclaim our desires and hopes of the Jews' conversion 
to Christ. — An enforced uniformity of religion throughout a 
nation or civil state, confounds the civil and religious, denies 
the principles of Christianity and civility, and that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh. — The permission of other con- 
sciences and worships than a state professeth, only can, ac- 
cording to God, procure a firm and lasting peace ; good as- 
surance being taken, according to the wisdom of the civil 
state, for uniformity of civil obedience from all sorts. — True 
civility and Christianity may both flourish in a state or king- 
dom, notwithstanding the permission of divers and contrary 
consciences, either of Jew or Gentile." 

The grand doctrine for which he contends is, that as God 
is the Supreme Ruler, the obligation to love and obey him 
binds the conscience of every man ; but he is responsible to 
God alone. His fellow-men, therefore, have no right to in- 
terfere with bis religious opinions, for God has not delegated 
to any man this authority over the conscience ; consequently, 
all human laws which either prescribe or prohibit doctrines 
or rites that are not inconsistent with the civil peace, are an 
invasion of God's prerogative, and no man is bound to obey 
them. 

Principles of religious liberty are expounded and illustra- 
ted in the " Bloudy Tenent," which have since excited ad- 
miration in the writings of Jeremy Taylor, Milton, Locke, 
and Furneau. Bishop Heber, in his life of Jeremy Taylor, 
remarks, of the " Liberty of Prophecying :" — " It is the first 
attempt on record to conciliate the minds of Christians to 
the reception of a doctrine, which, though now the rule of 



74 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

action professed by all christian sects, was then, by everv 
sect alike, regarded as a perilous and portentous novelty." 
Bishop Heber has here fallen into a mistake, as Taylor's ad- 
mirable work was not published till 1647, three years after 
the " Bloucly Tenent." In the latter work the principles of 
liberty of conscience are far more clearly and consistently 
maintained. Taylor claims toleration for those Christians 
only who unite in the confession of the Apostle's creed; Wil- 
liams claims not merely a right to toleration, but for every 
man entire liberty of conscience. 

Roger Williams, having accomplished the object of his 
mission to England, embarked for America, and landed at 
Boston, September 17th, 1G44. He brought with him the 
following letter, signed by several noblemen, and other mem- 
bers of parliament, and addressed " To the right worshipful 
the governor and assistants, and the rest of our worthy 
friends in the plantation of Massachusetts Bay, in New Eng- 
land :"— 

" Our much-honored Friends, — Taking notice, some 
of us of long time, of Mr. Roger Williams, his good affec- 
tions and conscience, and of his sufferings by our common 
enemies and oppressors of God's people, the prelates ; as, 
also, of his great industry and travail in his printed In- 
dian labors in your parts (the like whereof we have not 
seen extant from any part of America), and in which res- 
pect it hath pleased both houses of parliament to grant unto 
him, and friends with him, a free and absolute charter of 
civil government for those parts of his abode ; and, withal, 
sorrowfully resenting — that amongst good men (our friends) 
driven to the ends of the world, exercised with the trials of 
a wilderness, and who mutually give good testimony, each of 
the other (as we observe you do of him, and he abundantly 
of you), — there should be such a distance; we thought it fit, 
upon divers considerations, to profess our great desires of 
both your utmost endeavors of nearer closing and of readily 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 75 

expressing those good affections (which we perceive you 
bear to each other), in effectual performance of all friendly 
offices. The rather because of those bad neighbors you are 
likely to find in Virginia, and the unfriendly visits from the 
west of England and of Ireland. That however it may 
please the Most High to shake our foundations, yet the re- 
port of your peaceable and prosperous plantations may be 
some refreshings to your true and faithful friends." 

This letter was delivered to the authorities of Massachu- 
setts, and procured for Williams permission to proceed un- 
molested to Providence, but it failed to soften their temper 
towards him, or the heretical colony. The magistrates, says 
Hubbard, upon the receipt of the letter, examined their 
hearts, but saw no reason to condemn themselves for any 
former proceedings against Mr. Williams. The colony being 
now invested with the dignity of an independent govern- 
ment, and under the protection of the parent country, ap- 
peared to the united colonies to possess a greater power for 
mischief, and they steadily pursued towards her an un- 
friendly policy. 

The news of Williams's arrival at Boston had preceded 
him and the inhabitants of Providence met him at Seekonk, 
with a fleet of canoes to welcome his return, and to convey 
him home in triumph. These humble colonists could not 
receive their constant friend and benefactor with the pomp 
of regal display, but they offered him the more valuable hom- 
age of heart-felt gratitude. Such an expression of it is hon- 
orable to our common humanity, and is a reward seldom 
withheld from those who, like Roger Williams, seek with 
disinterested patriotism the welfare of their country. This 
reception is a sufficient testimony of the esteem in which 
his character and services were held by his fellow-citizens. 



CHAPTER XL 

Williams's efforts in preventing a general Indi- 
an WAR — FORM OF GOVEMNMENT UNDER THE CHAR- 
TER — SPIRIT OF THE LAWS — DISSENSIONS — WILLIAMS'S 
LETTER TO THE TOWN OF PROVIDENCE — CODDINGTON'S 
COMMISSION — OPPRESSIVE POLICY OF THE OTHER NEW 
ENGLAND COLONIES — PERSECUTION OF JOHN CLARKE, 
AND OTHERS, IN MASSACHUSETTS — LETTER OF SIR 
RICHARD SALTONSTALL — WILLIAMS AND CLARKE ARE 
APPOINTED AGENTS TO THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 

Immediately after his return, Rojjer Williams endeavored 
to carry into operation the charter he had procured, but the 
inhabitants were not prepared at once to agree on a form of 
government. The charter gave them power to frame their 
own laws, but much skill and delicacy were necessary to har- 
monize the various conflicting interests of the respective 
towns. 

In the meantime, the beneficent services of Williams were 
required in settling the difficulties which had sprung up, dur- 
ing his absence, between the united colonies and the Narra- 
gansetts. The latter, exasperated against the Mohegans, who 
had put to death their favorite sachem, Miantonomoh, and 
against the colonists, who had sanctioned the deed, resolved 
on war. They soon commenced hostilities, killed several of 
the Mohegans, and threatened to extend the war to all the 
colonists of New England, except those at Providence, and 
on Rhode Island, having, from regard to Williams, agreed to 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS, 77 

maintain peace with these settlements. An extraordinary 
meeting of the commissioners was held in Boston, when they 
received a letter from Roger Williams, informing them of 
the hostile determinations of the Narragansctts. Two mes- 
sengers were sent to the sachems of the tribe to appease their 
vengeance and prevent the war. Williams had already been 
sent for by the sachems to advise them in this crisis ; and on 
the arrival of the messengers he served them as an interpre- 
ter. By his mediation, Passacus, the brother and successor 
of Miantonomoh, and other chiefs of the tribe, were persua- 
ded to go to Boston, where a treaty was concluded in Au- 
gust, 1645, between the commissioners and the sachems, by 
which the latter agreed to make peace with the Mohegans. 
Thus were the settlements of KeAv England saved, a second 
time, from a general Indian war, mainly by the good offices 
and personal influence of Roger Williams. 

The several towns of the Providence plantations at length 
agreed on a form of civil government, closely analogous to 
the organization of the United States, under their present 
constitution. It was adopted in a general assembly of the 
people of the colony, held at Portsmouth, May 19th, 1647. 
This form required the annual election of a president and 
four assistants, in whom the executive power was vested, and 
who constituted the general court of trial for all cases of ap- 
peal. The legislative assembly was composed of six commis- 
sioners from each town, who should make laws and order the 
general affairs of the colony. The laws adopted by the 
above-mentioned general assembly were mainly taken from 
those of England. This excellent code concludes with these 
memorable words : — " These are the laws that concern all 
men, and these are the penalties for the transgressions there- 
of, which, by common consent, are ratified and established 
throughout the whole colony. And otherwise than thus, 
what is herein forbidden, all men may walk as their con- 
sciences persuade them, every one in the name of his God. 



78 life of roger williams. 

And let the saints of the Most High walk in this 

COLONY WITHOUT MOLESTATION, IN THE NAME OF JeHO- 
VAH THEIR GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER."* 

An eminent American historian justly observes, " The an- 
nals of Rhode Island, if written in the spirit of philosophy, 
would exhibit the forms of society under a peculiar aspect. 

Had the territory of the state corresponded to the import- 
ance and singularity of the principles of its early existence, 
the world would have been filled with wonder at the phe- 
nomena of its early history."! Williams had a large share 
in the organization of the new government, and he was just- 
ly entitled, from his character and services, to be the first 
president. It was, undoubtedly, to conciliate the other 
towns that he cheerfully yieided his own claims to that of- 
fice, while he accepted the subordinate place of assistant for 
the town of Providence. Among the acts passed at this 
first meeting of the general assembly, was a resolution grate- 
fully recognising the services of Roger Williams in obtain- 
ing the charter, and " in regard to his so great trouble, 
charges, and good endeavors," granting him the sum of one 
hundred pounds. This was, undoubtedly, a very inadequate 
compensation, but the whole even of this sum was never 
paid, owing, perhaps, to the unhappy jealousies which arose 
between the different settlements ; or, it may be, Williams 
was too generous to press his just claims. It must be con- 
fessed, however, that gratitude has not been a conspicuous 
virtue of any government, republican, or monarchical. In- 
dividual conscience seems to be dissipated when men act to- 
gether in large communities. 

It could not be expected that the several towns of the col- 
ony, composed of so many discordant materials, embracing 
all sorts of opinions, would quietly coalesce in one form of 
government. The harmony of Providence was early dis- 

* Colony Records. t Bancroft, vol. i. p. 380. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 79 

turbed, by the resort of many restless spirits from the other 
colonies, who entertained mistaken views of religious free- 
dom. The influence of Williams was often needed as a 
peace-maker, to throw oil upon the troubled waters. 

One of the principal sources of disquietude to Williams at 
this time, and of injury to the colony, was the extraordinary 
proceedings of William Coddington, the leading inhabitant 
of the settlement on Rhode Island. The fierce conflict then 
raging at home affected this distant dependency. Codding- 
ton was attached to the king's party, and disposed to pro- 
mote his authority in the colony. From the first organiza- 
tion of the government, under the charter, his efforts were 
directed to its overthrow. Having persuaded a faction to 
unite with him, he first attempted to obtain admission for the 
island settlements into the league of the New England colo- 
nies, but, happily, this effort failed. 

In this state of affairs Williams addressed a letter to the 
town of Providence, dated August, 1648, which places his 
character as a peacemaker in a very interesting light : — 

"Worthy friends, that ourselves and all men are apt and 
prone to differ, is no new thing. In all former ages, in all 
parts of the world, in these parts, and in our dear native 
country and mournful state of England, that either part or 
party is most right in his own eyes, his cause right, his car- 
riage right, his arguments right, his answers right, is as woe- 
fully and constantly true, as the former. And experience 
tells us, that when the God of peace hath taken peace from 
the earth, one spark of action, word or carriage, is powerful 
to kindle such a fire as burns up towns, cities, armies, navies, 
nations and kingdoms. And since, dear friends, it is an 
honor for men to cease from strife ; since the life of love is 
sweet, and union is as strong as sweet ; and since you have 
been lately pleased to call me to some public service, and 
my soul hath been long musing how I might bring water to 
quench, and not oil or fuel to the flame : I am now humbly 



80 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

bold to beseech you, by all those comforts of earth and hea- 
ven, which a placable and peaceable spirit will bring to 
you, and by all those dreadful alarms and warnings, either 
amongst ourselves, in deaths and sicknesses, or abroad in the 
raging calamities of the sword, death, and pestilence ; I say, 
humbly and earnestly beseech you, to be willing to be pacifi- 
able, willing to be reconcilable, willing to be sociable, and to 
listen to the (I hope not unreasonable) motion following : 
To try out matters by disputes and writings, is sometimes 
endless ; to try out arguments by arms and swords, is cruel 
and merciless ; to trouble the state and lords of England, is 
most unreasonable, most chargeable ; to trouble our neigh- 
bors of other colonies, seems neither safe nor honorable. 
Methinks, dear friends, the colony now looks with the torn 
face of two parties, and that the greater number of Ports- 
mouth, with other loving friends adhering to them, appear 
as one grieved party ; the other three towns, or greater part 
of them, appear to be another. Let each party choose and 
nominate three ; Portsmouth and friends adhering, three, the 
other party, three, one out of each town ; let authority be 
given to them to examine every public difference, grievance 
and obstruction of justice, peace and common safety ; let 
them, by one final sentence of all or the greater part of 
them, end all, and set the whole into an unanimous posture 
and order, and let them set a censure upon any that shall 
oppose their sentence." 

This excellent advice, however, could not be followed, for 
Coddington persisted in his ambitious views. He went to 
England, and procured from the council of state a commis- 
sion, constituting him governor for life of the islands of 
Rhode Island and Canonicut. He returned in 1651, bring- 
ing his new charter, whose operation would at once subvert 
the existing government and divide the colony. This pro- 
duced great excitement throughout the different settlements, 
and alarmed those inhabitants on the islands who were op- 
posed to his measures. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 81 

In addition to these internal dissensions, other troubles 
arose. The colon}' was surrounded by Massachusetts, Ply- 
mouth, and Connecticut, which were all opposed to the little 
heretical state, and regarded her as their legitimate prey. 
Plymouth was desirous of adding the beautiful island to her 
territory ; Connecticut repeatedly asserted her claims to the 
Narragansett country ; and Massachusetts claimed Provi- 
dence and the neighboring settlement of Warwick. 

The special aversion which Massachusetts felt towards in- 
truders from Rhode Island is illustrated in the memorable 
transactions in which the Rev. John Clarke, Mr. Obadiah 
Holmes, and Mr. John Crandall, three citizens of Newport r 
had so melancholy a share. They were appointed by the 
church in Newport to visit one William Witter, an aged 
member of that church, then resident at Lynn, a few miles 
east of Boston, who had requested a visit for the purpose of 
christian intercourse. The committee proceeded, in a peace- 
able manner, on this benevolent mission to Lynn. The next 
day being the Sabbath, it was thought projjer to spend it in 
worship at the house of Witter. While Mr. Clarke was 
preaching from Rev. iii. 10, relating to temptation, he was 
suddenly interrupted by two constables, who arrested him 
and his companions by virtue of the following warrant signed, 
by one of the magistrates; viz. — "By virtue hereof, you are 
required to go to the house of William Witter, and so to 
search from house to house for certain erroneous persons, 
being strangers, and them to apprehend, and in safe custody 
to keep, and to morrow morning, at eight o'clock to bring 
before me." Mr. Clarke and his companions were detained, 
through the Sabbath, in the custody of the officers, and the 
next day were committed to prison in Boston. On being 
brought before the court for trial, Mr. Clarke defended him- 
self and his companions so ably that the magistrates were not 
a little embarrassed. " At length, however," says Mr. Clarke, 
" the governor stepped up, and told us we had denied infant 
6 



82 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

baptism, and, being somewhat transported, told me I bad de- 
served death, and said he would not have such trash brought 
into his jurisdiction." 

The trial resulted in the conviction of the prisoners, and 
Mr. Clarke was sentenced to pay a fine of twenty pounds, 
Mr. Holmes of thirty pounds, and Mr. Crandall, of five 
pounds ; or, in case of their refusal of payment, to be Avhip- 
ped. They refused to pay the fines, as they acknowledged 
neither the justice of the sentence, nor the jurisdiction of the 
magistrates. They were accordingly committed to prison, 
from which, after a few weeks, Messrs. Clarke and Crandall 
were released, by the interposition of their friends, and per- 
mitted to return to Newport. Mr. Holmes was confined 
longer,' and before he was discharged, thirty lashes were in- 
flicted on him with merciless severity. Two other persons, 
also, who were present at his punishment, and expressed 
sympathy with the sufferers, were fined and imprisoned.* 

To record facts like these of the Pilgrim Fathers is inex- 
pressibly painful. It tends, however, to deepen our abhor- 
rence of the principle which could pervert the judgment and 
harden the heart of. men so justly eminent for their piety. 
If they had abandoned to their persecutors in the fatherland 
the policy of state interference with religious opinions, no 
shade would now rest upon their otherwise glorious memo- 
ries. 

It is refreshing, however, to turn to a brighter page, evin- 
cing that these persecutions were not unanimously approved. 
Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of the magistrates of Massachu- 
setts Bay, then in England, wrote thus to the Rev. Messrs. 
Cotton and Wilson, of Boston : — 

" Reverend and dear friends, whom I unfeignedly love 
and respect, — It doth not a little grieve my spirit to hear 
what sad things are reported daily of your tyranny and per- 
secution in New England, as that you fine, whip, and im- 

* Backus 's History of New England, vol. i. p 207. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 8:} 

prison men for their consciences. First you compel such to 
come into your assemblies as you know will not join you in 
your worship, and when they show their dislike thereof, or 
witness against it, then you stir up your magistrates to pun- 
ish them for such — as you conceive — their public affronts. 
Truly, friends, this your practice of compelling any in mat- 
ters of worship to do that whereof they are not fully persua- 
ded, is to make them sin, for so the apostle (Rom. xiv. 23) 
tells us, and many are made hypocrites thereby, conforming 
in their outward man, for fear of punishment. We pray for 
you, and wish you prosperity every way, hoping the Lord 
would have given you so much light and love there, that you 
might have been eyes to God's people here, and not to prac- 
tice those courses in a wilderness, which you went so far to 
prevent. These rigid ways have laid you very low in the 
hearts of the saints." 

In this distressed state of the colony, while the citizens 
were at variance with each other, and were subjected to such 
tyrannical acts from their powerful and ambitious neighbor, 
Massachusetts, it was apparent that the only safety was in a 
union of all the towns. The Indians, also, began to commit 
depredations, and offer insults which the individual settle- 
ments were too feeble to punish, and which the commission- 
ers of the united colonies refused to redress. 

In this crisis, nearly all the inhabitants of Newport, and 
a large number of those of Portsmouth, requested John 
Clarke to proceed to England, as their agent to procure the 
repeal of Coddington's commission, and the confirmation of 
the charter obtained by Williams. The appointment of Mr, 
Clarke to this mission was, in every respect, most judicious. 
He was a gentleman of liberal education, courteous manners, 
and the original projector of the settlement on the island. 
He was held in high estimation as a physician, and a minister 
of the church at Newport, and, in every emergency, had 
proved himself able in counsel, wise in deliberation, and en- 



84 LIFE OF ROGEK WILLIAMS. 

ergetic in action. After his return, he was elected three- 
years successively deputy-governor. 

The towns of Providence and Warwick, which continued 
to maintain the government under the original charter, ur- 
gently importuned Williams to accompany Clarke, and co- 
operate with him to accomplish this important object. He 
at first absolutely declined accepting this important trust, 
from reluctance again to leave his large family, and from in- 
ability to sustain the expense. His warm interest in the 
colony he had founded, and the importunities of the citizens, 
at length induced him to accept the appointment, and he 
prepared again to cross the Atlantic. Some efforts were 
made by the inhabitants of Providence and Warwick to ob- 
tain a sufficient sum for defraying the expenses of the mis- 
sion, but they do not appear to have been effectual. To ob- 
tain the means of making the voyage, and supporting his 
family during his absence, he says, that " he sold his trading 
house at Narragansett, with one hundred pounds profit per 
annum ;" a new proof, if any were needed, of his self-sacrifi- 
cing patriotism. 



CHAPTER XII. 

williams and clarke sail for england — codding- 
ton's commission revoked, and the former char- 
ter CONFIRMED — LETTER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
TO WILLIAMS PUBLISHES HIS EXPERIMENTS OF SPIR- 
ITUAL LIFE AND HEALTH AND THEIR PRESERVATIVES 

THE HIRELING MINISTRY REJOINDER TO COTTON 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

Having made the necessary arrangements preparatory to 
his long absence from home, Williams joined his friend 
Clarke at Boston, where they embarked together in Novem- 
ber, 1G51. It was not without considerable difficulty that 
Williams was allowed to pass through the territory of Massa- 
chusetts, for the purpose of taking ship for England. He al- 
ludes to the fact, in his subsequent letters, though he does 
not mention the nature of the molestation he suffered from 
the authorities. The objects of his embassy were offensive 
to them, besides their hatred of his principles. 

Great events had occurred in the mother country since 
Williams last visited her shores. Monarchy had been sub- 
verted, and the supreme authority was vested in a council of 
state. On their arrival in England, Williams and Clarke 
presented a petition to the council, in behalf of the colony 
they had come to represent, who referred it to the committee 
for foreign affairs. The application met with opposition 
from various quarters ; but an order was at length passed by 



86 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

the council annulling Coddington's commission, and con- 
firming the former charter. This important measure Wil- 
liams ascribes mainly io the efforts of his friend Sir Henry 
Vane, a man of kindred spirit, and a prominent member of 
the council. 

During the absence of Williams, the general assembly, 
which met at Providence, addressed a letter to him which is 
valuable, as a public testimonial of the esteem of his fellow 
citizens. The following is an extract : — 

" Honored Sir, — We may not neglect any opportunity to 
salute you in this your absence, and have not a little cause 
to bless God. who hath pleased to select you to such a pur- 
pose, as avc doubt not will conduce to the peace and safety 
of us all, as to make you once more an instrument to impart 
and disclose our cause unto those noble and grave senators, 
our honorable protectors, in whose eyes God hath given you 
honor — as we understand — beyond our hopes, and moved 
the hearts of the wise to stir on your behalf. We give you 
hearty thanks for your care and diligence to watch all op- 
pi rtunities to promote our peace, for we perceive your pru- 
dent and comprehensive mind stirreth every stone to present 
it to the builders, to make firm the fabric unto us, about 
winch you are employed. . . . 

" Sir. give us leave to intimate thus much, that we humbly 
concern — so far as we are able to understand — that, if it be 
the pleasure of our protectors to renew our charter for the 
re-establishing of our government, that it might tend much 
to the weighing of men's minds, and subjection of persons 
who have been refractory, to yield themselves over as unto 
a settled government, if it might be the pleasure of that hon- 
orable State, to invest, appeint, and empower yourself to 
come over as governor of this colony, for the space of one 
year, and so the government to be honorably put upon this 
place, which might seem to add weight for ever hereafter in 
the constant and successive derivation of the same. We 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 87 

only present it to your deliberate thoughts and consideration, 
with our hearty desires that your time of stay there, for the 
effectual perfecting and finishing of your so weighty affairs, 
may not seem tedious, nor be any discouragement unto you ; 
rather than you shall suffer for loss of time here, or expense 
there, we are resolved to stretch forth our hands at your re- 
turn, beyond our strength for your supply." 

It does not appear that Williams took any steps to procure 
for himself the appointment of governor, considering, pro- 
bably, that it would be a dangerous precedent, and an inter- 
ference with the right of his fellow-citizens to elect their own 
officers. 

Of Williams's literary industry, we have a new proof, in 
the publication of a work immediately after his arrival in 
England. It was written, he says, " in the thickest of the 
naked Indians of America, in their very wild houses, and by 
their barbarous fires." The volume is entitled, " Experi- 
ments of Spiritual Life and Health, and their Preservatives. 
London, 1652." After diligent inquiry, the writer is not 
aware that more than one copy of this work now exists. In 
the dedication " to the truly honorable the Lady Vane," he 
says, " your favorable and christian respects to me, your god- 
ly and christian letters to me, so many thousand miles dis- 
tant in America ; and your many gracioue demonstrations 
of an humble and christian spirit breathing in you, are a 
three-fold cord which have drawn these lines into your pre- 
sence." There is also prefixed to the work a letter to his 
wife, which affords pleasing evidence of his affectionately 
domestic character from which we give the following ex- 
tract : — 

" My dearest love and companion in this vale of tears, — 
Thy late sudden and dangerous sickness, and the Lord's 
most gracious and speedy raising thee up from the gates and 
jaws of death, as they were wonderful in their own and 
others' eyes, so I earnestly desire they may be ever in our 



88 LIFE OF r.OGER WILLIAMS. 

thoughts, as a warning from heaven to make ready for a sud- 
den call to be gone from hence — to live the rest of our short, 
uncertain span, more as strangers, longing and breathing 
after another home and country — to cast off our great cares, 
and fears, and desires, and joys about the candle of this vain 
life, that is so soon blown out, and to trust in the living God. 
I send thee — though in winter — a handful of flowers, made 
up in a little posy, for thy dear self and our dear children, 
to look and smell on, when I, as grass of the field, shall be 
gone and withered." 

The work is divided into three parts — 1. " Arguments of 
spiritual life, wher-em the weakest child of God may find his 
spiritual life apparent, though overcast and eclipsed with 
spiritual weakness. 2. Arguments of the strength and vig- 
or of the spirit of life and holiness ; in which the strongest 
and eldest in Christ may find experiments of spiritual health, 
and christian activity and cheerfulness." 3. Some means 
are proposed wherein the Spirit of God usually breatheth for 
the preserving and maintaining of a truly spiritual and chris- 
tian health and cheerfulness." It manifests throughout deep 
and enlightened piety, and concludes in the following lan- 
guage : — " How frequent, how constant, should we be — like 
Christ Jesus, our founder and example — in doing good, es- 
pecially to the souls of all men, especially to the household 
of faith ; yea, even to our enemies, when we remember this 
is our seed-time, of which every minute is precious, and that 
as our sowing is, must be our eternal harvest." 

Within less than a month from the time the above-men- 
tioned book issued from the press, he published a small trea- 
tise, with the title. " The Hireling Ministry none of Christ's ; 
or, a Discourse touching the propagating the Gospel of Christ 
Jesus," &c. The chief object of this work is, to oppose a le- 
gal establishment of religion, and the compulsory support of 
the clergy, by tithes, and other modes of taxation. It is not, 
however, as its title would now seem to import, an argument 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 89 

against the maintenance of ministers of the gospel, to which 
the author insists they are entitled. He earnestly contends 
for the right of " all the people of the three nations to choose 
and maintain what worship and ministry their souls and con- 
consciencesare persuaded thereof." He also expresses, in this 
volume, the following enlightened opinions respecting the 
Jews : — " By the merciful assistance of the Most High, I have 
desired to labor in Europe, in America, with English, with 
barbarians ; yea, and also I have longed after some trading 
with the Jews themselves, for whose hard measure I fear the 
nations and England hath yet a score to pay." 

In the year 1647, the Rev. John Cotton attempted a reply 
to the " Bloudy Tenent," in which he maintained the right 
of the magistrate to interfere for the promotion of truth and 
the suppression of error. It was during this visit to Eng- 
land, and while thus engaged in the service of his own colo- 
ny, that Williams, in the winter of 1652, prepared for the 
press, and published, a rejoinder, entitled, " The Bloudy 
Tenent, yet more bloody by Mr. Cotton's endeavor to wash 
it white in the Blood of the Lamb. Of whose precious blood, 
spilt in the blood of his servants, and of the blood of millions 
spilt in former and later wars for conscience sake, that most 
Bloody Tenent of persecution for cause of conscience, upon 
a second trial, is found now more apparently and more no- 
toriously guilty." 

In this rejoinder to Mr. Cotton the following topics are 
principally treated: — " 1. The Nature of Persecution. 2. 
The Power of the Civil Sword in Spirituals examined. 3. 
The Parliament's permission of Dissenting Consciences jus- 
tified. Also (as a testimony to Mr. Clarke's) is added a 
Letter to Mr. Endicott, Governor of the Massachusetts, in 
N. E. By R. Williams, of Providence, in New England. 
London, printed 1652." It is a quarto volume of three 
hundred and seventy-four pages. The same clear, enlarged, 
and consistent views of religious freedom are maintained in 



90 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

this work as in his preceding ones, with additional argu- 
ments, evincing an acute, vigorous and fearless mind, imbued 
with various erudition and undissembled piety. It is char- 
acterized by the kindest tone, and pervaded by a courteous- 
ness of style unusual in the controversial writings of that 
age. The author says : — " The Most Holy and All-seeing 
knows how bitterly I lament the least difference with Mr. 
Cotton, yea, with the least of the followers of Jesus, of what 
conscience or worship soever." 

In the appendix is an address " To the Clergy of the four 
great Parties, professing the Name of Christ Jesus, in Eng- 
land, Scotland, and Ireland; viz., the Popish, Prelatical, 
Presbyterian, and Independent ;" from which we make the 
following extract: — 

"Worthy Sirs, — I have pleaded the cause of your sev- 
eral and respective consciences against the bloody doctrine 
of persecution, in my former labors, and in this my present 
rejoinder to Mr. Cotton. And yet I must pray leave, with- 
out offence, to say, I have impartially opposed and charged 
your cosciences also, so far as guilty of that bloody doctrine 
of persecuting each other for your consciences. 

" You four have torn the seamless coat of the Son of God 
into four pieces, and, to say nothing of former times and 
tearings, you four have torn the three nations into thousands 
of pieces and distractions. The two former of you, the pop- 
ish and protestant prelatical, are brethren ; so are the latter, 
the presbyterian and independent. But, oh, how vara est, 
&c. ? What concord, what love, what pity, hath ever yet 
appeared amongst you, when the providence of the Most 
High and Only Wise hath granted you your patents of mu- 
tual and successive dominion and precedency. 

" Just like two men, whom I have known break out to 
blows and wrestling, so have the protestant bishops fought 
and wrestled with the popish, and the popish with the pro- 
testant ! The presbyterian with the independent, and the 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 91 

independent with the presbyterian ! And onr chronicles 
and experiences have told this nation, and the world, how he 
whose turn it is to be brought under, hath ever felt a heavy, 
wrathful hand of an unbrotherly and unchristian persecutor !" 

The following passage, in allusion to the episcopal clergy 
who had been ejected from their benefices, shows that his 
sympathies embraced all the persecuted without regard to 
denomination : " I make another humble plea — and that, I 
believe, with all the reason and justice in the world — that 
such who are ejected, undone, impoverished, might, some 
way from the state or you, receive relief and succour : con- 
sidering, that the very nation's constitution hath occasioned 
parents to train up, and persons to give themselves to stud- 
ies, though, in truth, but in a way of trade and bargaining 
before God ; yet is, according to the custom of the nation, 
who ought, therefore, to share also in the fault of such priests 
and ministers who in all changes are ejected." But to re- 
turn to the affairs of his own colony, which, whether at home 
or abroad, were the primary objects of his solicitude. This, 
and other interesting features in his public and private char- 
acter, are illustrated in the following extracts from his cor- 
respondence. In a letter to his friend, Gregory Dexter, of 
Providence, dated August 7, 1652, he says: — 

" By my public letters, you will see how we wrestle, and 
how we are like yet to wrestle, in the hopes of an end. 
Praised be the Lord, we are preserved, the nation is pre- 
served, the parliament sits, God's people are secure, too se- 
cure. A great opinion is, that the kingdom of Christ is risen, 
and ' the kingdoms of the earth are become the kingdoms of 
our Lord and of his Christ.' (Rev. xi.) Others have fear of 
the slaughter of the witnesses yet approaching. Divers 
friends, of all sorts, here, long to see you, and wonder you 
come not over. For myself, I had hopes to have got away 
by this ship, but I see^iow the mind of the Lord to hold me 
here one year longer. It is God's mercy, his very great 



92 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

mercy, that we have obtained this interim encouragement 
from the council of state, that you may cheerfully go in the 
name of a colony, until the controversy is determined. The 
determination of it, sir, I fear, will be a work of time ; I fear 
longer than we have yet been here, for our adversaries 
threaten to make a last appeal to the parliament, in case we 
get the day before the council. 

" Sir, in this regard, and when my public business is over, 
I am resolved to begin my old law-suit, so that I have no 
thought of return until spring come twelve months. My duty 
and affection hath compelled me to acquaint my poor com- 
panion with it. I consider our many children, the danger 
of the seas and enemies, and, therefore, I write not positively 
for her, only I acquaint her with our affairs. I tell her, joy- 
ful I should be of her being here with me, until our state af- 
fairs were ended, and I freely leave her to wait upon the 
Lord for direction, and, according as she finds her spirit free 
and cheerful, to come or stay. If it please the Lord to give 
her a free spirit, to cast herself upon the Lord, I doubt not 
of your love and faithful care, in anything she hath occasion 
to use your help, concerning our children and affairs, during 
our absence ; but I conclude, whom have I in heaven or 
earth but thee ? and so humbly and thankfully stay in the 
Lord's pleasure, as only and infinitely best and sweetest." 

The order of the council of state, directing the several 
plantations to unite again under the government of the char- 
ter, was brought to Newport in the early part of the year 
1653. Such, however, were the jealousies which had sprung 
up during the separation of the towns, that it was found ea- 
sier to command than to enforce obedience. Williams, with 
his associate, continued in England, to watch the progress of 
events and sustain the rights of the colony. The following 
letter shows how much they were indebted to the friendly 
aid of Sir Henry Vane. It is addressed to the towns of 
Providence and Warwick : — 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 93 

From Sir Henry Vanes, at Belleau, in Lincolnshire. 

"April 1st, 1653. 

" My dear and loving Friends and Neighbors of 
Providence and Warwick, — Our noble friend, Sir Hen- 
ry Vane, having the navy of England mostly depending on 
his care, and going down to the navy at Portsmouth, I was 
invited by them both to accompany his lady to Lincolnshire, 
where I shall yet stay, as I fear, until the ship is gone. I 
must, therefore, pray your pardon, that by the post, I send 
this to London. I hope it may have pleased the Most High 
Lord of sea and land to bring Captain C.'s ship and dear 
Mr. Dyre unto you, and with him the council's letters, which 
answer the petition Sir Henry Vane and myself drew up, 
and the council, by Sir Henry's mediation granted us, for the 
confirmation of the charter, until the determination of the 
controversy. This determination, you may please to under- 
stand, is hindered by two main obstructions. The first is, 
the mighty war with the Dutch, which makes England, and 
Holland, and the nations tremble. This hath made the par- 
liament set Sir Henry Vane and two or three more as com- 
missioners to manage the war, which they have done, with 
much engaging the name of God with them, who hath ap- 
peared in helping sixty of ours against almost three hundred 
of their men-of war, and, perchance, to the sinking and tak- 
ing about one hundred of theirs, and but one of ours, which 
was sunk by our own men. 

" Our second obstruction is the opposition of our adversa- 
ries, Sir Arthur Haselrige, and Colonel Fenwicke — who hath 
married his daughter — Mr. Winslow, and Mr. Hopkins, both 
in great place ; and all the friends they can make in parlia- 
ment and council, and all the priests, both presbyterian and 
independent; so that we stand as two armies, ready to en- 
gage, observing the motions and postures each of the other, 
and yet shy each of other. Under God, the sheet-anchor of 



94 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

our ship is Sir Henry, who will do as the eye of God leads 
him ; and he faithfully promised me that he would observe 
the motion of our New England business, while I staid some 
ten weeks with his lady in Lincolnshire. Besides, here are 
great thoughts and preparation for a new parliament — some 
of our friends are apt to think another parliament will more 
favor us and our cause than this has done. You may please 
to put my condition into your soul's cases ; remember I am a 
father and a husband. I have longed earnestly to return 
with the last ship, and with these ; yet I have not been wil- 
ling to withdraw my shoulders from the burthen, lest it pinch 
others, and may fall heavy upon all ; except you are pleased 
to give to me a discharge. If you conceive it necessary for 
me still to attend this service, pray you consider if it be not 
convenient that my poor wife be encouraged to come over to 
rne, and to wait together, on the good pleasure of God, for 
the end of this matter. You know my many weights hang- 
ing on me, how my own place stands, and how many reasons 
I have to cause me to make haste, yet I would not lose their es- 
tates, peace, and liberty, by leaving hastily. I write to my 
dear wife, my great desire of her coming while I stay, yet left 
it to the freedom of her spirit, because of the many dangers. 
Truly, at present the seas are dangerous, but not comparably 
so much, nor likely to be, because of the late defeat of the 
Dutch, and their present sending to us offers of peace. 

" My dear friends, although it pleased God himself, by 
many favors, to encourage me, yet please you to remember, 
that no man can stay here as I do, having a present employ- 
ment there, without much self-denial, which I beseech God 
for more, and for you also, that no private respects, or gains, 
or quarrels, may cause you to neglect the public and com- 
mon safety, peace and liberties. I beseech the blessed God 
to keep fresh in your thoughts what he hath done for Provi- 
dence Plantations. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 95 

" My dear respects to yourselves, wives, and children. I 
beseech the eternal God to be seen amongst you ; so prays 
your most faithful and affectionate friend and servant, 

"Roger Williams. 

U P. S. My love to all my Indian friends." 



CHAPTER Xttl. 

Williams's correspondence with the daughter of 
sir edward coke — his intercourse with sir hen- 
ry vane, cromwell, and milton. 

Amidst his engrossing and important occupations, Roger 
Williams did not forget the family of his former benefactor, 
Sir Edward Coke. The following correspondence between 
him and Mrs. Sadleir, the daughter of Sir Edward, is now 
for the first time published :— 

"My much-honored Friend, Mrs. Sadleir, — The 
never-dying honor and respect which I owe to that dear and 
honorable root and his branches, and, amongst the rest, to 
your much-honored self, have emboldened me, once more, 
to inquire after your dear husband's and your life, and health, 
and welfare. This last winter I landed, once more, in my 
native country, being sent over from some parts of New 
England with some addresses to the parliament. 

" My very great business, and my very great straits of 
time, and my very great journey homeward to my dear yoke- 
fellow and many children, I greatly fear will not permit me 
to present my ever-obliged duty and service to you, at Ston- 
don, especially if it please God that I may despatch my af- 
fairs to depart with the ships within this fortnight. I am, 
therefore, humbly bold to crave your favorable consideration, 
and pardon, and acceptance, of these my humble respects 
and remembrances* It hath pleased the Most High to carry 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 97 

me on eagles' wings, through mighty labors, mighty hazards, 
mighty sufferings, and to vouchsafe to use so base an instru- 
ment — as I humbly hope — to glorify himself, in many of my 
trials and sufferings, both amongst the English and barbari- 
ans. 

" I have been formerly, and since I landed, occasioned to 
take up the two-edged sword of God's Spirit, the word of 
God, and to appear in public in some contests against the 
ministers of Old and New England, as touching the true 
ministry of Christ and the soul freedoms of the people. 
Since I landed, I have published two or three things, and 
have a large discourse at the press, but 'tis controversial, 
with which I will not trouble your meditations; only I crave 
the boldness to send you a plain and peaceable discourse, of ' 
my own personal experiments, which, in a letter to my dear 
wife — upon the occasion of her great sickness near death — I 
sent her, being absent myself amongst the Indians. And 
being greatly obliged to Sir Henry Vane, junior — once gov- 
ernor of New England — and his lady, I was persuaded to 
publish it in her name, and humbly to present your honora- 
ble hands with one or two of them. I humbly pray you to 
cast a serious eye on the holy Scriptures, on which the ex- 
aminations are grounded. I could have dressed forth the 
matter like some sermons which, formerly, I used to pen. 
But the Father of lights hath long since shown me the vanity 
and soul-deceit of such points and flourishes. I desire to 
know nothing, to profess nothing, but the Son of God, the 
Kino; of souls and consciences: and I desire to be more 
thankful for a reproof for aught I affirm than for applause 
and commendation. I have been oft glad in the wilderness 
of America to have been reproved for going in a wrong path, 
and to be directed by a naked Indian boy in my travels. 
How much more should we rejoice in the wounds of such as 
we hope love us in Christ Jesus, than in the deceitful kisses 
of soul-deceiving and soul-killing friends. 
7 



98 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

" My much-honored friend, that man of honor, and wis- 
dom, and piety, your dear father, was often pleased to call 
me his son ; and truly it was as bitter as death to me when 
Bishop Laud pursued me out of this land, and my conscience 
was persuaded against the national church, and ceremonies, 
and bishops, beyond the conscience of your dear father. I 
say it was as bitter as death to me, when I rode Windsor 
way, to take ship at Bristow, and saw Stoke House, where 
the blessed man was; and I then durst . not acquaint him 
with my conscience, and my flight. But how many thousand 
times since have I had honorable and precious remembrance 
of his person, and the life, the writings, the speeches, and 
the examples of that glorious light. And I may truly say, 
that beside my natural inclination to study and activity, his 
example, instruction, and encouragement, have spurred me 
on to a more than ordinary, industrious, and patient course 
in my whole course hitherto. 

" What I have done and suffered — and I hope for the truth 
of God, according to my conscience — in Old and New Eng- 
land, I should be a fool in relating, for I desire to say, not to 
King David — as once Mephibosheth — but to King Jesus, 
k What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a 
dead dog V And I would not tell yourself of this, but that 
you may acknowledge some beams of his holy wisdom and 
goodness, who hath not suffered all your own and your dear 
father's smiles to have been lost upon so poor and despicable 
an object. I confess I have many adversaries, and also many 
friends, and divers eminent. It hath pleased the general 
himself to send for me, and to entertain many discourses 
with me at several times ; which, as it magnifies his christian 
nobleness and courtesy, so much more cloth it magnify His 
infinite mercy and goodness, and wisdom, who hath helped 
me, poor worm, to sow that seed in doing and suffering — I 
hope for God — that as your honorable father was wont to say, 
he that shall harrow what I have sown, must rise early. And 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 99 

yet I am a worm and nothing, and desire only to find my all 
in the blood of an holy Saviour, in whom I desire to be 
" Your honored, 

" Most thankful, and faithful servant, 

" Eoger Williams. 

" My humble respects presented to Mr. Sadleir. 

" From my lodgings near St. Martin's, at Mr. Davis his 
house, at the sign of the Swan." 

" For my much-honored, kind friend, Mistress Sadleir, at 
Stondon, Puckridge, these." 

" Mr. Williams, — Since it has pleased God to make the 
prophet David's complaint ours (Ps. Ixxix.) : ' O God, the 
heathen,' &c, and that the apostle St. Peter has so long ago 
foretold, in his second epistle, the second chapter, by whom 
these things should be occasioned, I have given over reading 
many books, and, therefore, with thanks, have returned 
yours. Those that I now read, besides the Bible, are, first, 
the late king's book; Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity; Rev- 
erend Bishop Andrews's Sermons, with his other divine med- 
itations; Dr. Jer. Taylor's works; and Dr. Tho. Jackson 
upon the Creed. Some of these my dear father was a great 
admirer of, and would often call them the glorious lights of 
the church of England. These lights shall be my guide ; I 
wish they may be yours : for your new lights that are so 
much cried up, I believe, in the conclusion, they will prove 
but dark lanterns ; therefore I dare not meddle with them. 
" Your friend in the old way, 

" Anne Sadleir." 



"My much-honored, kind Friend, Mrs. Sadleir, — 

My humble respects premised to your much-honored self, and 
Mr. Sadleir, humbly wishing you the saving knowledge and 
assurance of that life which is eternal, when tins poor min- 



100 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

ute's dream is over. In my poor span of time, I have been 
oft in the jaws of death, sickening at sea, shipwrecked on 
shore, in danger of arrows, swords and bullets : and yet, me- 
thinks, the most high and most holy God hath reserved me 
-for some service to his most glorious and eternal majesty. 

" I think, sometimes, in this common shipwreck, of man- 
kind, wherein we all are either floating or sinking, despair- 
ing or struggling for life, why should I ever faint in striving, 
as Paul saith, in hopes to save myself, to save others — to call, 
and cry, and ask, what hope of saving, what hope of life, and 
of the eternal shore of mercy V Your last letter, my hon- 
ored friend, I received as a bitter sweeting — as all, that is 
under the sun, is— sweet, in that I hear from you, and that 
you continue striving for life eternal ; bitter, in that we dif- 
fer about the way, in the midst of the dangers and distresses. 

" O blessed be the hour that ever we saw the light, and 
came into this vale of tears, if yet, at last, in any way, we 
may truly see our woful loss and shipwreck, and gain the 
shore of life and mercy. You were pleased to direct me to 
divers books, for my satisfaction. I have carefully endeav- 
ored to get them, and some I have gotten ; and upon my 
reading, I purpose, with God's help, to render you an ingen- 
uous and candid account of my thoughts, result, &c. At 
present, I am humbly bold to pray your judicious and loving 
eye to one of mine. 

" "lis true, I cannot but expect your distate of it ; and 
yet my cordial desire of your soul's peace here, and eternal, 
and of contributing the least mite toward it, and my humble 
respects to that blessed root of which you spring, force me to 
tender my acknowledgements, which, if received or rejected, 
my cries shall never cease that one eternal life may give 'us 
meeting, since this present minute hath such bitter partings. 

" For the scope of this rejoinder, if it please the Most 
High to direct your eye to a glance on it, please you to 
know, that at my last being in England, I wrote a discourse 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 101 

entitled, ' The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of 
Conscience.' I bent niy charge against Mr. Cotton especial- 
ly, your standard-bearer of New English ministers. That 
discourse he since answered, and calls his book, ' The Bloody 
Tenent made white in the Blood of the Lamb.' This rejoin- 
der of mine, as I humbly hope, unwasheth his washings, and 
proves that in soul matters no weapons but soul weapons 
are reaching and effectual. 

" I am your most unworthy servant, yet unfeignedly res- 
pective, 

"Roger Williams. 

" For his much-honored, kind friend, Mrs. Anne Sadleir, 
at Stondon, in Hertfordshire, near Puckridge." 

" Sir, — I thank God my blessed parents bred me up in the 
old and best religion, and it is my glory that I am a member 
of the church of England, as it was when all the reformed 
churches gave her the right hand. When I cast mine eye 
upon the frontispiece of your book, and saw it entitled ' the 
Bloudy Tenent,' I durst not adventure to look into it, for 
fear it should bring into my memory the much blood that has 
of late been shed, and which I would fain forget ; therefore I 
do, with thanks, return it. I cannot call to mind any 
blood shed for conscience : — some few that went about to 
make a rent in our once well-governed church were pun- 
ished, but none suffered death. But this I know, that since 
it has been left to every man's conscience to fancy what re- 
ligion he list, there has more christian blood been shed than 
was in the ten persecutions. And some of that blood, will, I 
fear, cry till the day of judgment. But you know what the 
Scripture says, that when there was no king in Israel, every 
man did that which was right in his own eves, — but what be- 
came of that, the sacred story will tell you. 

" Thus entreating you to trouble me no more in this kind, 
and wishing you a good journey to your charge in New Pro- 
vidence, I rest 

" Yottr Friend, in the Old and Best Way." 



102 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

My honored, kind Friend, Mrs. Sadleir, — I greatly- 
rejoiced to hear from yon, although now an opposite to me, 
even in the highest points of heaven and eternity. 

" Two things your lines express : — First, your confidence 
in your own old way, &c. 

" Second. Civility and gentleness in that — not being 
pleased to accept my respects and labors presented — yet 
you gently, with thanks and your reason, return them. I 
shall not be so sorry you differ from me, if yet the Father of 
spirits please to vouchsafe you a spirit of christian searching 
and examination. In hope of which I shall humbly consider 
of the particulars of your letter. 

"1. That you think an heap of timber or pile of stones to 
be God's sanctuary now. (Ps. lxxix. 1.) In Christ's esteem, 
and in gospel language, that you think those to be false 
teachers and prophets (2 Pet. ii. 1) who are not — after the 
old way — distinguished by the canonical colors of white, red, 
black, &c. 

" That you admire the king's book, and Bp. Andrews his 
sermons, and Hooker's Polity, &c, and profess them to be 
your lights and guides, and desire them mine, and believe 
the new lights will prove dark lanterns, &c. I am far from 
wondering at it, for all this have I done myself, until the 
Father of Spirits mercifully persuaded mine to swallow 
down no longer Avithout chewing ; to chew no longer with- 
out tasting; to taste no longer without begging the Holy 
Spirit of God to enlighten and enliven mine against the fear 
of men, tradition of fathers, or the favor or custom of any 
men or times. 

" 2. I now find that the church and sanctuary of Christ 
Jesus consists not of dead but of living stones.* Is not a 
parish or a national church forced — to the pretended bed of 
Christ's worship — by laws and swords ?f 

" His true lovers are volunteers, born of his Spirit, the 

* 1 Pet. ii. 3, 4. t Cant. i. 16. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 103 

now only holy nation and royal priesthood (1 Pet. ii., Ps. ex.) 
I find that, in respect of ministerial function and office, such 
ministers, not only popish but protestant, not only episcopal 
but presbyterian, not only presbyterian but independent 
also, are all of them, one as well as another, false prophets 
and teachers, so far as they are hirelings, and make a trade 
and living of preaching (John x.), as I have lately opened 
in my " Discourse of the Hireling Ministry none of Christ's.'' 

" 3. I have read those books you mention, and the kino-'s 
book, which commends two of them, Bp. Andrews's and 
Hooker's — yea, and a third also, Bp. Laud's : and as for the 
king, I knew his person, vicious, a swearer from his youth. 
and an oppressor and persecutor of good men (to say nothing 
of his own father), and the blood of so many hundred thou- 
sands English, Irish, Scotch, French, lately charged upon 
him. Against his and his blasphemous father's cruelties, 
your own dear father, and many precious men, shall rise up 
shortly and cry for vengeance. 

" 4. But for the book itself — if it be his — and theirs you 
please to mention, and thousands more, not only protestants 
of several sects, but of some papists and Jesuits also — famous 
for worldly repute, &c. — I have found them sharp and witty, 
plausible and delightful, devout and pathetical. And I have 
been amazed to see the whole world of our forefathers, wise 
and gallant, wondering after the glory of the Romish learn- 
ing and worship. (Rev. xiii.) But amongst them all whom 
I have so diligently read and heard, how few express the sim- 
plicity, the plainness, the meekness, and true humility of the 
learning of the Son of God. 

" 5. But, at last, it pleased the God and Father of mercies 
to persuade mine heart of the merely formal, customary, and 
traditional professions of Christ Jesus, with which the world 
is filled. I see that the Jews believe Christ Jesus was a 
deceiver, because he came not with external pomps and ex- 
cellency. 



104 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

" The Turks — so many millions of them — prefer their Ma- 
homet before Christ Jesus, even upon such carnal and world- 
ly respects, and yet avouch themselves to be the only Mus- 
elmanni or true believers. The catholics account us here- 
tics, cliabloes, &c. ; and why ? but because we worship not 
such a golden Christ and his glorious vicar and lieutenant. 
The several sects of common protestants content themselves 
with a traditional worship, and boast they are no Jews, no 
Turks,* nor catholics, and yet forget their own formal dead 
faith,f dead hope, dead joys, and yet, nescio vos, I know you 
not, depart from me, which shall be thundered out to many 
gallant professors and confidents, who have held out a lamp 
and form of religion, yea, and possibly of godliness too, and 
yet have denied the power and life of it. 

" Therefore, my much-honored friend, while you believe 
the darkness of the new lights, and profess your confidence, 
and desire of my walking with you in the old way : I most 
humbly pray so much Berean civility at your ladyship's 
hands as to search and remember — 

" 1. First, the Lord Christ's famous resolution of that ques- 
tion put to him, as touching the number that shall be saved 
(Luke xiii. 24), ' Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for 
many shall seek to enter, and shall not be able.' 

" 2ndly. There is an absolute necessity (not so of a true 
order of ministry, baptism, &c, but) of a true regeneration 
and new birth, without which it is impossible to enter into 
or to see the kingdom of God. (John iii. &c.) 

" 3rdly. As to the religion and the worship of God, the com- 
mon religion of the whole world, and the nations of it, it is 
but customary and traditional, from father to son, from which 
(old ways, &c), traditions, Christ Jesus, delivers his, not 
with gold and silver, but with his precious blood. (1 Pet. i. 
18, 19.) 

" 4thly. Without spiritual and diligent examination of our 

* Matt. vii. 21, 22. t 2 Tim. iii. 9. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 105 

hearts, it is impossible that we can attain true solid joy and 
comfort, either in point of regeneration or worship, or what- 
ever we do. (2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; Rom. xiv. 23.) 

" 5thly. In the examination of both these — personal regen- 
eration and worship — the hearts of all the children of men 
are most apt to cheat, and cozen, and deceive themselves : 
yea, and the wiser a man is, the more apt and willing he is 
to be deceived. (Jer. xvii. ; Gal. vi. ; 1 Cor. iii. 18.) 

" 6thly. It is impossible there should be a true search, 
without the Holy Spirit, who searcheth all things, yea, the 
deep things of God. (Rom. viii. ; Ps. cxliii. 10.) 

" Lastly. God's Spirit persuadeth the hearts of his true 
servants : First, to be willing to be searched by him, which 
they exceedingly beg of him, with holy fear of self-deceit and 
hypocrisy. 

" Second. To be led by him in the way everlasting : (Ps. 
cxxxix.), whether it seem old in respect of institution, or 
new in respect of restoration. This I humbly pray for your 
precious soul, of the God and Father of mercies, even your 
eternal joy and salvation. Earnestly desirous to be in the 
old way, which is the narrow way, which leads to life, which 
few find. 

" Your most humble, though most unworthy servant, 

"Roger Williams." 

" My honored Friend, since you please not to read mine, 
let me pray leave to request your reading of one book of 
your own authors. I mean the ' Liberty of Prophesying,' 
penned by (so called) Dr. Jer. Taylor. In the which is ex- 
cellently asserted the toleration of different religions, yea, in 
a respect, that of the papists themselves, which is a new way 
of soul freedom, and yet is the old way of Christ Jesus, as 
all his holy Testament declares. 

" I also humbly wish that you may please to read over im- 
partially Llr. Milton's answer to the king's book." 



106 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

" Mr. Williams, — I thought my first letter would have 
given you so much satisfaction, that, in that kind, I should 
never have heard of you any more ; but it seems you have a 
face of brass, so that you cannot blush. But since you press 
me to it, I must let you know, as I did before (Ps. lxxix.), 
that the prohet David there complains that the heathen had 
defiled the holy temple, and made Jerusalem a heap of stones. 
And our blessed Saviour, when he whipped the buyers and 
sellers out of the temple, told them that they had made his 
Father's house a den of thieves. Those were but material 
temples, and commanded by God to be built, and his name 
there to be worshipped. The living temples are those that 
the same prophet, in the psalm before mentioned (verse the 
2nd and 3rd), ' The dead bodies of thy servants have they 
given to the fowls of the air, and the flesh of thy saints to 
the beasts of the land. Their blood have they shed like 
water,' &c. And these were the living temples whose loss 
the prophet so much laments; and had he lived in these 
times, he would have doubled these lamentations. For the 
foul and false aspersions you have cast upon that king, of 
ever-blessed memory, Charles, the martyr, I protest I trem- 
bled when I read them, and none but such a villain as your- 
self would have wrote them. Wise Solomon has taught me 
another lesson in his 24th of his Proverbs, at 21st verse, to 
fear God and the king, and not to meddle with them that are 
given to change. Mark well that. The 8th of Eccl., verse 
the 2nd, ' I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, 
and that in regard of the oath of God.' Verse the 20th of 
the 10th chap., ' Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought;' 
and, if I be not mistaken, the fifth commandment is the 
crown commandment. Rom. xiii., the 1st and 2nd verses, 
" Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for,' &c. ; 
with many more places to the same purpose. Thus, you see, 
I have the law, with the Old and New Testament, on my 
side. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 107 

" But it has been the lot of the best kings to lie under the 
lash of ill tongues. Witness blessed David, who was a man 
after God's own heart, cursed by wicked Shimei, his own 
subject, and called a man of blood ; and good Hezekiah was 
railed on by a foul-mouthed Rabshakeh ; but I do not re- 
member that they were commended, in any place of scrip- 
ture, for so doing. For the blood you mention, which has 
been shed in these times, which you would father upon the 
late king, there is a book called the History of Independency 
— a book worth your reading — that will tell you by whom 
all this christian blood has been shed. If you cannot get 
that, there is a sermon in print of one Paul Knells, the text 
the first of Amos, verse the second, that will inform you. 

" For Milton's book, that you desire I should read, if I be 
not mistaken, that is he that has wrote a book of the lawful- 
ness of divorce ; and, if report says true, he had, at that 
time, two or three wives living. This, perhaps, were good 
doctrine in New England ; but it is most abominable in Old 
England For his book that he wrote against the late king 
that you would have me read, you should have taken notice 
of God's judgment upon him, who stroke him with blindness ; 
and, as I have heard, he was fain to have the help of one An- 
drew Marvell, or else he could not have finished that most 
accursed libel. God has began his judgment upon him here 
— his punishment will be hereafter in hell. But have you 
seen the answer to it V If you can get it, I assure you it is 
worth your reading. 

" I have also read Taylor's book of the Liberty of Prophe- 
sying ; though it please not me, yet I am sure it does you, or 
else I [know]* you [would]* not have wrote to me to have 
read it. I say, it and you would make a good fire. But 
have you seen his Divine Institution of the Office Ministeri- 
al ? I assure that is both worth your reading and practice. 
Bishop Laud's book against Fisher I have read long since ; 

* These words are not in the MS. 



108 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

which, if you have not clone, let me tell you that he has deep- 
ly wounded the pope ; and, I believe, howsoever he be slight- 
ed, he will rise a saint, when many seeming ones, such as 
you are, will rise devils. 

" I cannot conclude without putting you in mind how dear 
a lover and great an admirer my father was of the liturgy of 
the church of England, and would often say, no reformed 
church had the like. He was constant to it, both in his life 
and at his death. I mean to walk in his steps ; and, truly, 
when I consider who were the composers of it, and how they 
sealed the truth of it with their blood, I cannot but wonder 
why it should now of late be thus contemned. By what I 
have now writ, you know how I stand affected. I will walk 
as directly to heaven as I can, in which place, if you will 
turn from being a rebel, and fear God and obey the king, 
there is hope I may meet you there ; howsoever, trouble me 
no more with your letters, for they are very troublesome to 
her that wishes you in the place from whence you came."* 

Near the direction, on the outside, of Williams's first let- 
ter, there is the following note by Mrs. Sadleir : — 

" This Soger Williams, when he was a youth, would, in 
a short hand, take sermons and speeches in the Star Cham- 
ber, and present them to my dear father. He, seeing so 
hopeful a youth, took such liking to him that he sent him in 
to Sutton's Hospital, and he was the second that was placed 
there ; full little did he think that he would have proved such 
a rebel to God, the king, and his country. I leave his let- 

* This correspondence, between Roger Williams and Mrs. Sadleir, is cop- 
ied from the original manuscripts in the library of Trinity college, Cam- 
bridge. Like many of Williams's letters, they are without date : but the al- 
lusions to his works, and other circumstances, clearly show that they were 
written during his second visit, in 1652-3. The writer has examined the 
originals of the letters ; and for the knowledge of their existence he is in- 
debted to the courtesy of the Hon. George Bancroft, author of the History 
of the United States, and late minister to Great Britain. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 109 

ters, that, if ever lie has the face to return into his native 
country, Tyburn may give him welcome." 

These letters present a lively picture of the influence of 
party spirit upon social intercourse, at that remarkable pe- 
riod. The gratitude and humility of Williams are finely 
contrasted with the cold repulsiveness, and, at last, rude in- 
solence of his correspondent, whose final letter pours forth 
as much venom as could well flow from a lady's pen. The 
concentrated essence of it, in her postscript, reminds us of 
the mutation in human affairs. The rebel she denounces 
lias acquired a nobler fame than even that of the acute law- 
yer, her father ; while, if her own name is rescued from ob- 
livion, she owes it to her accidental connexion with the man 
she consigns to Tyburn. 

We may here observe, that while "Williams was in Ensf- 
land, in addition to his numerous avocations, his exertions 
were called forth in the metropolis " for the supply of the 
poor with wood during the stop of the coals from Newcastle, 
and the mutinies of the poor," in consequence of the high 
price of every species of fuel. He also refers to opportuni- 
ties he had to " run the road of preferment, as well in Old 
as in New England." 

Though he made great sacrifices in order to undertake his 
present agency, his visit, at this time, to the mother-country 
must have been peculiarly gratifying. His official duties 
brought him into frequent intercourse with many of the emi- 
nent statesmen who then adorned the legislature, and wield- 
ed the power of the state. Pie renewed his friendship with 
Sir Henry Yane, the former governor of Massachusetts, and 
enjoyed his hospitality, at his country-seat, for many weeks, 
He secured on behalf of his beloved colony the powerful in- 
fluence of Cromwell, with whom he had frequent interviews. 
His hours of leisure were often passed with a kindred spirit, 
of transcendent genius — ISiilton — to whom he refers in his 
subsequent correspondence. Imagination conceives those 



110 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

two great men, representatives of a brighter future, discus- 
sing the true nature of that religious liberty, which few be- 
sides themselves clearly discerned. We can fancy them ap- 
plying the simple principle of the non-interference of the 
state with religion to the solution of the vexed questions 
which still continued to harrass and divide the English 
church reformers. And if their hopes of the speedy triumph 
of this principle in England sometimes failed, they would re- 
joice together that there was at least one spot on the earth's 
wide surface, where conscience, with joyful exultation, might 
exclaim, I am free ! 



CHAPTER XIV. 

WILLIAMS RETURNS TO AMERICA — HIS LETTER TO GOV- 
ERNOR WINTHROP — RE-ORGANIZATION OF THE GOV- 
ERNMENT — HE IS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE COLONY 
— HIS LETTER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF MASSACHU- 
SETTS — HIS LETTER ON CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 

Though it appears that inducements had been held out to 
Williams to remain in England, yet nothing could detain 
him from his beloved colony. The objects of his mission not 
being fully accomplished, he left the remainder of the busi- 
ness in the hands of Mr. Clarke, and returned, early in the 
summer of 1654. He landed at Boston, bringing with him 
an order from the lord-protector's council, requiring the au- 
thorities of Massachusetts to allow him, in future, to embark 
or land in their territories without molestation. 

Soon after his return, he addressed a letter to his friend, 
Mr. Winthrop, afterwards governor of Connecticut : a gen- 
tleman greatly respected as a christian, a philosopher, and a 
magistrate. In the following passage, he relates several in- 
cidents connected with his visit to England : — 

" For my much-honoured, kind Friend, Mr. John 
Winthrop, at Pequod. 

'• Providence, July 12th, '54. 

" Sir j— I was humbly bold to salute you from our native 



112 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

country ; and now, by the gracious hand of the Lord, once 
more saluting this wilderness, I crave your wonted patience 
to my wonted boldness, who ever honored and loved, and 
ever shall, the root and branches of your dear name. How 
joyful, therefore, was I to hear of your abode as a stake and 
pillar in these parts, and of your healths — your own, Mrs. 
Winthrop, and your branches — although some sad mixtures 
we have had from the sad tidings (if true) of the late loss 
and cutting off of one of them. 

" Sir, I was lately upon the wing to have waited on you at 
your house. I had disposed all for my journey, and my staff 
was in my hand, but it pleased the Lord to interpose some 
impediments, so that I am compelled to a suspension for a 
season, and choose at present thus to visit you. I had no 
letters for you, but yours were well. I was at the lodgings 
of Major Winthrop and Mr. Peters, but I missed them. 
Your brother flourisheth in good esteem, and is eminent for 
maintaining the freedom of the conscience, as to matters of 
belief, religion, and worship. Your father Peters* preacheth 
the same doctrine, though not so zealously as some years 
since ; yet cries out against New English rigidities and per- 
secutions 

" Surely, sir, your father, and all the people of God in 
England, formerly called Puritanus Anglicanus, of late 
Roundheads, now the Sectarians (as more or less cut off 
from the parishes), are now in the saddle and at the helm, so 
high that non datur descensus nisi cadendo. Some cheer up 
their spirits with the impossibility of another fall or turn ; so 
doth Major- Gen. Harrison, and Mr. Feake, and Mr. John 
Simpson, now in Windsor castle for preaching against this 
last change, and against the protector as an usurper, Rich- 
ard HI., &c. So did many think of the last parliament, who 
were of the vote of fifty-six against priests and tithes, oppo- 
site to the vote of the fifty-four who were for them, at least 

* Mr. Winthrop had married a daughter of the Rer. Hugh Peters. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 113 

for a while. Major-Gen. Harrison, was the second in the 
nation of late, when the loving general and himself joined 
against the former long parliament, and dissolved them ; but 
now being the head of the fifty-six party, he was confined by 
the protector and council, within five miles of his father's 
house, in Staffordshire. That sentence he not obeying, he 
told me (the day before my leaving London) he was to be 
sent prisoner into Harfordshire. Surely, sir, he is a very 
gallant, most deserving, heavenly man, but most liigh flown 
for the kingdom of the saints. Others, as to my knowledge, 
the protector, Lord President Lawrence, and others at helm, 
with Sir Henry Vane (retired into Lincolnshire, yet daily 
missed and courted for his assistance), are not so full of that 
faith of miracles, but still imagine changes and persecutions. 

" Sir, I know not how far your judgment hath concurred 
with the design against the Dutch. I must acknowledge my 
mourning for it, and when I heard of it at Portsmouth, I con- 
fess I wrote letters to the protector and president from 
thence ; as against a most uningenuous and unchristian de- 
design, at such a time when the world stood gazing at the so 
famous treaty for peace, which was then between the two 
states , and near finished when we set sail. Much I can tell 
you of the answer I had from court, and I think of the ans- 
wers I had from heaven — viz., that the Lord would gracious- 
ly retard us until the tidings of peace (from England) might 
quench the fire in the kindling of it. 

" Sir, I had word from the lord president, at Portsmouth, 
that the counil had passed three letters as to our business. 
First, to encourage us ; second, to our neighbor colonies not 
to molest us ; third, in exposition of that word dominion, in 
the late frame of the government of England — viz., that lib- 
erty of conscience should be maintained in all American 
plantations, &c. 

" Sir, a great man in America told me that he thought 
New England would not bear it. I hope better, and that 

8 



214 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

not only the necessity, but the equity, piety, and Christianity 
of that freedom will more and more shine forth, not to licen- 
tiousness (as all mercies are apt to be abused), but to the 
beauty of Christianity, and the lustre of true faith in God and 
love to poor mankind, &c. 

" Sir, I have desires of keeping home. I have long had 
scruples of selling the natives aught, but what may bring or 
tend to civilizing. It pleased the Lord to call me for some 
time, and with some persons, to practise the Hebrew, the 
Greek, Latin, French, and Dutch. The secretary of the 
council, Mr. Milton, for my Dutch I read him, read me many 
more languages. Grammar rules begin to be esteemed a 
tyranny. I taught two young gentlemen, a parliament-man's 
sons, as we teach our children English — by words, phrases, 
and constant talk, &c. I have begun with mine own three 
boys, who labor besides ; others are coming to me. 

" Sir, I shall rejoice to receive a word of your healths, of 
the Indian wars, and to be ever yours, 

" R. W." 

Here we have proof of the extent of Williams's acquire- 
. ments as a linguist, while we see Milton and himself in the 
very interesting relation of mutual instructors. It is proba- 
ble that he " taught two young gentlemen, a parliament- 
man's sons," as a mode of providing for his own support at 
this period. 

On his arrival at Providence, his first object was to re- 
store union among the several towns, and re-establish the 
government on its former basis, in accordance with the order 
of the council of state. The accomplishment of this was no 
easy task, in consequence of the petty jealousies and local 
differences, which had been artfully fomented by some tur- 
bulent spirits, who thought disorder more propitious to their 
interests than good government. In this crisis, he addressed 
a conciliatory letter to the citizens of Providence, in which 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 115 

he alludes in affecting terms to his trials and sacrifices in 
their behalf, and urges them to bury their animosities and 
unite in the reorganization of the government on its old 
foundations. His efforts to promote union were also en- 
forced, by a letter entrusted to him by Sir Henry Vane, and 
addressed to the inhabitants of the colony.* 

By the skilful policy and persuasive earnestness of "Will- 
lams, Providence and the other towns soon after appointed 
commissioners, who met on the 31st of August, 1654, and 
the articles of union were finally agreed upon, under the ex- 
isting charter. 

Williams was requested, also, by the citizens of Provi- 
dence, to prepare an answer to Sir Henry Yane's letter in 
the name of the town. In this answer, dated August 27, 
1654, commencing with an expression of regret at the late 
retirement of Sir Henry " from the helm of public affairs," 
he speaks of his " loving lines" to the colony as " the sweet 
fruits of his rest." " Thus the sun, when he retires his 
brightness from the world, yet from under the very clouds 
we perceive his presence, and enjoy some light, and heat, 
and sweet refreshings." He points out the causes which had 
disturbed the colony, and concludes by expressing the hope 
" that, when we are gone and rotten, our posterity and chil- 
den after us shall read, in our town records, your pious and 
favorable letters, and loving kindness to us, and this our ans- 
wer, and real endeavor after peace and righteousness." 

The first general election was held at Warwick, on the 
1 2th of September, when Roger Williams was chosen presi- 
dent of the colony. At the same time, he was also appoint- 
ed, together with Mr. Gregory Dexter, to " draw up and 
send letters of humble thanksgiving to his highness, the lord 
protector, and Sir Henry Vane, Mr. Holland, and Mr. John 
Clarke, in the name of the colony ; and Mr. Williams is de- 
sired to subscribe them, by virtue of his office." 

* A curious extract from a work of Sir Vane will be found in the Ap- 
pendix II. 



116 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

The auspicious union of the'settlements, after an unhappy 
division of several years, was mainly accomplished by the 
wisdom and firmness of Williams. One of his first acts after 
entering upon the duties of his presidency, was to interpose 
his friendly offices in order to prevent hostilities between 
the united colonies and some of the neighboring Indian 
tribes. For this purpose, he addressed a letter to the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts, from which we present the fol- 
lowing extracts : — 

" Providence, 5th October, '54, 

" Much honored Sirs, — I truly wish you peace, and 
pray your gentle acceptance of a word, I hope not unreason- 
able. 

" We have in these parts a sound of your meditations of 
war against these natives, amongst whom we dwell. I con- 
sider that war is one of those three great sore plagues with 
which it pleaseth God to afflict the sons of men. I consider, 
also, that I refused, lately, many offers in my native country, 
out of a sincere desire to seek the good and peace of this. 

" I remember, that, upon the express advice of your ever- 
honored Mr. Winthrop, deceased,* I first adventured to be- 
gin a plantation, among the thickest of these barbarians. 

" That in the Pequod wars, it pleased your honored gov- 
ernment to employ me in the hazardous and weighty service 
of negotiating a league between yourselves and the Narra- 
gansetts, when the Pequod messengers, who sought the Nar- 
ragansetts' league against the English, had almost ended that 
my work and life together. 

" That at the subscribing of that solemn league, which, by 
the mercy of the Lord, I had procured with the Narragan- 

* Governor Winthrop died at Boston, on the 26th of March, 1649, aged 
sixty-two years. He was eleven times chosen governor of Massachusetts. 
He was one of the purest and most gifted men of his age, and spent his 
large estate in the public service. His son and grandson were successively 
governors of Connecticut. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 117 

setts, your government was pleased to send unto me the copy 
of it, subscribed by all hands there, which yet I keep as a 
monument and a testimony of peace and faithfulness be- 
tween you both. 

" That, since that time, it hath pleased the Lord so to or- 
der it, that I have been more or less interested and used in 
all your great transactions of war or peace between the 
English and the natives, and have not spared purse, nor 
pains, nor hazards (very many times), that the whole land, 
English and natives, might sleep in peace securely. 

" That in my last negotiations in England with the par- 
liament, council of state, and his highness, I have been forced 
to be known so much that if I should be silent I should not 
only betray mine own peace and yours, but also should be 
false to their honorable and princely names, whose loves and 
affections, as well as their supreme authority, are not a little 
concerned in the peace or war of this country. 

" At my last departure for England I was importuned by 
the Narragansett sachems, and especially by Ninigret, to 
present their petition to the high sachems of England, that 
they might not be forced from their religion, and, for not 
changing their religion, be invaded by war ; for they said 
they were daily visited with threatenings by Indians that 
came from about the Massachusetts, that if they would not 
pray they should be destroyed by war. With this their pe- 
tition I acquainted in private discourses divers of the chiefs 
of our nation, and especially his highness, who, in many dis- 
courses I had with him, never expressed the least displea- 
sure, as hath been here reported, but in the midst of disputes 
ever expressed a high spirit of love and gentleness, and was 
often pleased to please himself with very many questions, 
and my answers about the Indian affairs of this country, and 
after all hearing of yourself and us, it hath pleased his high- 
ness and his council to grant, amongst other favors to this 
colony, some expressly concerning the very Indians, the na- 
tive inhabitants of this jurisdiction. 



118 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

" I therefore humbly offer to your prudent and impartial 
view, first, these two considerable terms, it pleased the Lord 
to use to all that profess his name. — Rom. xii. 18. 

" I never was against the righteous use of the civil sword 
of men or nations, but yet, since all men of conscience or 
prudence ply to windward to maintain their wars to be de- 
fensive (as did both king and Scotch, and English, and Irish 
too in the late wars), I humbly pray your consideration, 
whether it be not only possible, but very easy, to live and 
die in peace with all the natives of this country. 

" For, secondly, are not all the English of this land gene- 
rally a persecuted people from their native soil ? and hath 
not the God of peace and Father of mercies made these na- 
tives more friendly in this, than our native countrymen in 
our own land to us ? Have they not entered leagues of 
love, and to this day continued peaceable commerce with us ? 
Are not our families grown up in peace amongst them ? 
Upon wliich I humbly ask, how it can suit with christian in- 
genuity to take hold of some seeming occasions for their de- 
struction, which, though the heads be only aimed at, yet all 
experience tell us, falls on the body and the innocent. 

" Thirdly, I pray it may be remembered how greatly the 
name of God is concerned in this affair, for it cannot be hid 
how all England and other nations ring with the glorious 
conversion of the Indians of New England. You know how 
many books are dispersed throughout the nation on the sub- 
ject (in some of them the Narragansett chief sachems are 
publicly branded for refusing to pray and be converted) — 
how all the pulpits in England have been commanded to 
sound of this glorious work (I speak not ironically, but only 
mention what all the printed books mention), and that by 
the highest command and authority of parliament, and 
churchwardens went from house to house to gather supplies 
for this work. 

ki Honored sirs, whether I have been and am a friend to 



LIFE OF KOGER WILLIAMS. 119 

tlie natives' turning to civility and Christianity, and whether 
I have been instrumental, and desire so to be, according to 
my light, I will not trouble you with ; only I beseech you 
consider how the name of the most holy and jealous God 
may be preserved between the clashings of these two, viz., 
the glorious conversion of the Indians in New England, and 
the unnecessary wars and cruel destruction of the Indians in 
New England. 

" Fourthly, I beseech you forget not that although we are 
apt to play with this plague of war more than with the other 
two, famine and pestilence, yet I beseech you consider how 
the present events of all wars that ever have been in the 
world have been wonderfully fickle, and the future calami- 
ties and revolutions wonderful in the latter end. 

" Heretofore, not having liberty of taking ship in your ju- 
risdiction, I was forced to repair unto the Dutch, where my 
eyes did see that first breaking forth of that Indian war which 
the Dutch begun, upon the slaughter of some Dutch by the 
Indians, and they questioned not to finish it in a few days, 
insomuch that the name of peace, which some offered to me- 
diate, was foolish and odious to them. But before we weighed 
anchor their bowries were in flames. Dutch and English 
were slain. Mine eyes saw their flames at their towns, and 
the flights and hurries of men, women, and children, the pre- 
sent removal of all that could for Holland, and after vast ex- 
pense and mutual slaughter of Dutch, English, and Indians, 
about four years the Dutch were forced, to save their planta- 
tion from ruin, to make up a most unworthy and dishonora- 
ble peace with the Indians 

" But, lastly, if any be yet zealous of kindling this fire for 
God, &c, I beseech that gentleman, whoever he be, to lay 
himself in the opposite scale, with one of the fairest buds that 
«ver the sun of righteousness cherished, Josiah ; that most 
zealous and melting-hearted reformer who would to war, and 
against warnings, and fell in most untimelv death and lamen- 



120 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

tations, and now stands a pillar of salt to all succeeding gen- 
erations 

" How much nobler were it and glorious to the name of 
God and your own, that no pagan should dare to use the 
name of an English subject who comes not out in some degree 
from barbarism to civility — forsaking their filthy nakedness, 
keeping some kind of cattle, which yet your councils and 
commands may tend to — and as pious and prudent deceased 
Mr. Winthrop said, that civility may be a leading step to 
Christianity, is the humble desire of your most unfeigned in 
all services of love, 

" Roger Williams, 
of Providence Colony, President." 

It appears that this letter had a salutary effect. Massa- 
chusetts, with a spirit that is honorable to her rulers, was op- 
posed to hostilities, and thus prevented a general war with 
the natives, although it had been already determined on by 
the commissioners of the united colonies. Williams had suc- 
ceeded in restoring the regular operations of government, 
but the office of president was at that time encompassed 
with many difficulties. There were not wanting turbulent 
spirits who were uneasy and impatient under the restraints 
of law and order. During the early part of his administra- 
tion, one of these addressed a seditious pamphlet to the town 
of Providence, and was active in circulating it among the 
citizens, maintaining " that it was blood-guiltiness, and against 
the rule of the gospel, to execute judgment upon transgres- 
sors against the public or private weal." This doctrine tend- 
ed to the subversion of all civil society ; yet, it is not surpris- 
ing that in a community enjoying unrestricted freedom of 
opinion, some were found who would pervert the privilege 
into unbounded license. While such sentiments were pro- 
pagated, Williams could not remain silent, and accordingly 
addressed a letter to the town, in which he explicitly denies 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 121 

that he had ever given the slightest sanction to principles so 
hostile to the civil peace, and the dictates of reason and 
scripture. He clearly shows that absolute liberty of con- 
science is quite consistent with the restraints of civil govern- 
ment ; and illustrates this position by a very ingenious alle- 
gory. The letter is copied from the records of the city of 
Providence : — 

11 That ever I should speak or write a tittle, that tends to 
such an infinite liberty of conscience, is a mistake, and which 
I have ever disclaimed and abhorred. To prevent such mis- 
takes, I shall at present only propose this case : There goes 
many a ship to sea, with many hundred souls in one ship, 
whose weal and woe is common, and is a true picture of a com- 
monwealth, or a human combination or society. It hath fal- 
len out sometimes, that both papists and protestants, Jews 
and Turks, may be embarked in one ship ; upon which sup- 
posal I affirm, that all the liberty of conscience, that ever I 
pleaded for, turns upon these two hinges — that none of the 
papists, protestants, Jews, or Turks, be forced to come to the 
ship's prayers or worship, nor compelled from their own par- 
ticular prayers or worship, if they practise any. I further 
add, that I never denied, that notwithstanding this liberty, the 
commander of this ship ought to command the ship's course, 
yea, and also command that justice, peace, and sobriety, be 
kept and practised, both among the seamen and all the pas- 
sengers. If any of the seamen refuse to perform their servi- 
ces, or passengers to pay their freight ; if any refuse to help, 
in person or purse, towards the common charges or defence ; 
if any refuse to obey the common laws and orders of the 
ship, concerning their common peace or preservation; if any 
shall mutiny and rise up against their commanders and offi- 
cers ; if any should preach or write that there ought to be no 
commanders or officers, because all are equal in Christ, 
therefore no masters nor officers, no laws nor orders, nor cor- 



122 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

rections nor punishments ; — I say, I never denied, but in 
such cases, whatever is pretended, the commander or com- 
manders may judge, resist, compel and punish such trans- 
gressors, according to their deserts and merits. This, if se- 
riously and honestly minded, may, if it so please the Father 
of lights, let in some light to such as willingly shut not their 
eyes. 

" I remain studious of your common peace and liberty, 

"Roger Williams." 



CHAPTER XY. 

LETTER FROM CROMWELL — WILLIAMS'S ATTEMPTS TO 
ESTABLISH FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH MASSACHU- 
SETTS — SEVERE LAWS AGAINST THE QUAKERS IN THE 
OTHER COLONIES — RHODE ISLAND REFUSES TO JOIN 
IN THE PERSECUTION — LETTER TO JOHN CLARKE — 
WILLIAMS RETIRES FROM THE PRESIDENCY. 

The current of affairs did not yet flow quite smoothly in the 
little colony. Though a very large majority adhered to the 
cause of the commonwealth, yet a few royalists attempted to 
create factions. Complaints were made by the constituted 
authorities to Cromwell, who addressed the following letter 
to the colony : — 

" To our trusty and well-beloved the president, assistants, 
and inhabitants of Rhode Island, together with the rest 
of the Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, 
in New E no-land. 

" Gentlemen, — Your agent here hath represented unto 
us some particulars concerning your government, which you 
judge necessary to be settled by us here. But by reason of 
the other great and weighty affairs of this commonwealth, 
we have been necessitated to defer the consideration of them 
to a further opportunity ; for the mean time we were will- 
ling to let you know that you are to proceed in your govern- 
ment according to tbe tenor of your charter, formerly granted 



124 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

on that behalf; taking care of the peace and safety of those 
plantations, that neither through any intestine commotions, 
or foreign invasions, there do arise any detriment or dishon- 
or to this commonwealth, or yourselves, as far as you, by 
your care and diligence, can prevent And as for the things 
which are before us, they shall, as soon as the other occasions 
will permit, receive a just and fitting determination. And so 
we bid you farewell, and rest 

" Your very loving friend, 
" 29th March, 1655 * " Oliver P." 

The protector's interest in the colony, and his friendship 
for Williams, was manifested on this as well as many other 
occasions. In his letters the latter repeatedly alludes to fa- 
miliar conversations with Cromwell, to whom he was drawn 
by a unity of opinion 'on the great question of religious lib- 
erty. 

There is a tradition that these two distinguished men were 
remotely allied by birth ; and a fact, recorded in the geneal- 
ogy of the Cromwell family, gives an air of probability, at least, 
to this supposition. Cromwell's paternal ancestry is traced to 
Richard Williams, of Wales, who was knighted by Henry 
VUI. by the name of Cromwell, after his uncle, whose heir 
he became.f 

The protector's letter served to strengthen the govern- 
ment, and, in pursuance of his advice, the assembly immedi- 
ately passed an act, declaring, that " if any person or per- 
sons be found, by the examination and judgment of the gen- 
eral court of commissioners, to be a ringleader or ringleaders 
of factions or divisions among us, he or they shall be sent 
over at his or their own charges, as prisoners, to receive his 
or their trial or sentence, at the pleasure of his highness and 
the lords of his council." This act shows, that while the leg- 

* Colony Records. 
t See a genealogy of the Cromwell family in Appendix III. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 125 

islature recognized the rights of conscience, they were re- 
solved to enforce civil obedience. The prompt and reso- 
lute measures adopted by the authorities produced peace 
and good order among the settlements. Coddington and 
others gave in their allegiance to the colony, and the old form 
of government continued until the adoption of the charter 
of 1663. 

During the presidency of Williams, he made efforts to es- 
tablish more friendly relations with the neighboring colonies, 
especially with Massachusetts. The people of Rhode Island 
were not allowed to procure fire-arms and ammunition from 
Boston, though they were exposed to imminent peril from 
the Indians, who were abundantly supplied from various 
quarters. In November, 1655, he addressed a letter to the 
general court of Massachusetts, in which he remonstrated in 
a firm, though courteous, tone against this oppressive policy, 
by which the inhabitants of Rhode Island seemed " to be de- 
voted to the Indian shambles and massacres." 'A few months 
afterwards he wrote to the governor, Mr. Endicott, who in- 
vited him to visit Boston, that he might present his requests 
to the general court in person. The address he made to the 
court, in the name and by the appointment of his colonv, 
was successful in obtaining some of the privileges that he had 
requested. This kindness he acknowledged in a brief note 
to the assembly, in which he says, " I do cordially promise 
for myself (and all I can persuade with), to study gratitude 
and faithfulness to your service." 

During the year 1656 a number of the then new sect 
called Quakers arrived in Boston, and began to promulgate 
their [doctrines. The wild fanaticism of some of the early 
adherents of the sect forms a striking contrast to the quiet 
and consistent demeanor of the Friends of the present day. 
Experience had not yet been sufficient to teach Massachu- 
setts the folly of interfering between God and man, and she 
attempted the utter extermination of these new heretics. A 



126 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

large number were fined, imprisoned, banished, and whipped, 
and by a sanguinary law, enacted October, 1G58, punishing 
with death all quakers who should return into the jurisdic- 
tion after banishment, four persons were barbarously execu- 
ted. The persecution continued till September, 1661, when 
an order was received from King Charles II. requiring that 
neither capital nor corporal punishment should be inflicted 
on them, but that offenders should be sent to England. The 
other colonies of New England passed severe laws against 
the quakers, and endeavored to prevail on Rhode Island to 
join in the persecution. The commissioners of the united 
colonies addressed a letter to the president of Rhode Island, 
urging him to send away such quakers as were then in the 
colony, and prohibit the entrance of any in future ; but the 
government remaining true to their principle of " soul liber- 
ty," promptly refused to comply with the request. The gen- 
eral assembly, which met March 13, 1657, returned an 
answer to the commissioners in the following terms : — 

" Whereas freedom of different consciences to be protected 
from enforcements was the principal ground of our charter, 
both with respect to our humble suit for it, as also to the 
true intent of the honorable and renowned parliament of 
England in granting of the same unto us, — which freedom 
we still prize as the greatest happiness that men can possess 
in this world ; — therefore we shall, for the preservation of our 
civil peace and order, the more seriously take notice that 
those people and any other that are here, or shall come amongst 
us, be impartially required, and to our utmost consrained, to 
perform all civil duties requisite, towards the maintaining 
the right of his highness and the government of that most 
renowned commonwealth of England in this colonv. And 
in case they the said people called quakers which are here, 
or shall come among us, do refuse to submit to the doing all 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 127 

duties aforesaid, then we resolve to make use of the first op- 
portunity to inform our agent residing in England."* 

This reply was not satisfactory to the commissioners, and 
the next autumn they wrote again to the assembly, who re- 
turned an answer, dated October 13, 1G57, in which they 
use the following language : — 

" As concerning these quakers (so called), which are now 
among us, we have no law whereby to punish any for only 
declaring by words, &c, their minds and understandings 
concerning the things and ways of God, as to salvation and 
an eternal condition. And we find, moreover, that in those 
places where these people, aforesaid, in this colony, are most 
of all suffered to declare themselves freely, and are only op- 
posed by arguments in discourse, there they least of all, de- 
sire to come."f 

The letter then expressed disapprobation of the conduct 
of some of the quakers, and promised at the next general 
assembly that proper measures should be adopted to prevent 
any "bad effects of their doctrines and endeavors." 

The other colonies appear to have been greatly incensed 
by the firm and consistent adherence of Rhode Island to the 
glorious principles of her founder. The commissioners wrote 
a third time to the general assembly, requiring the colony to 
unite in a general persecution of the quakers, under the pen- 
alty of being herself excluded from all commercial inter- 
course with the rest of New England. This extraordinary 
attempt to force the citizens of Rhode Island from their cher- 
ished principles was unavailing. 

Apprehensive, however, that attempts might be made to 
accomplish this object indirectly they charged John Clarke, 
their agent at the court of the protector, to plead their cause 
that " they may not be compelled to exercise any civil pow- 
er over men's consciences." The following letter to Mr. 

* Colony Records. t HutchinsoD, vol. i. p. 454. 



128 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

Clarke was written by a committee appointed by the general 
assembly, November 5, 1658. It reflects great credit upon 
Rhode Island, and shows how far she was in advance of the 
other colonies and of the age : — 

" Worthy Sir and trusty Friend, Mr. Clarke, — 
We have found not only your ability and diligence, but also 
your love and care to be such concerning the welfare and 
prosperity of this colony, since you have been entrusted with 
the more public affairs thereof, surpassing that no small ben- 
efit which formerly we had of your presence here at home, 
that we in all straits and incumbrances are emboldened to 
repair to you for your further and continued counsel, care 
and help, finding that your solid and christian demeanor hath 
gotten no small interest in the hearts of our superiors, those 
noble and worthy senators with whom you have had to do 
on our behalf, as it hath constantly appeared in your ad- 
dresses made unto them, which we have by good and com- 
fortable proof found, having plentiful experience thereof. 

" The last year we have laden you with much employment, 
which we were then put upon by reason of some too refrac- 
tory among ourselves, wherein we appealed unto you for 
your advice, for the more public manifestation of it with res- 
pect to our superiors. But our intelligence it seems fell 
short in that great loss of the ship, which is conceived here 
to be cast away. We have now a new occasion given by an 
old spirit, with respect to the colonies about us, who seem to 
be offended with us because of a sort of people called by the 
name of quakers, who are come amongst us, and have raised 
up divers who seem at present to be of their spirit, whereat 
the colonies about us seem to be offended with us, because the 
said people have their liberty amongst us, are entertained into 
our houses, or into any of our assemblies. And for the present 
we have found no just cause to charge them with the breach 
of civil peace, only they are constantly going forth amongst 
them about us, and vex and trouble them in point of their 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 129 

religion and spiritual state, though they return with many a 
tbul scar in their bodies for the same. And the offence our 
neighbors take against us, is because we take not some course 
against the said people, either to expel them from among us, 
or take such courses against them as themselves do, who are 
in fear lest their religion should be corrupted by them. Con- 
cerning which displeasure that they seem to take, it was ex- 
pressed to us in a solemn letter, written by the commission- 
ers of the united colonies at their sitting, as though they 
would bring us in to act according to their scantling, or else 
take some course to do us greater displeasure. A copy of 
which letter we have herewith sent unto you, wherein you 
may perceive how they express themselves. As also we 
nave herewith sent our present answer unto them, to give 
you what light we may in this matter. There is one clause 
in their letter which plainly Implies a threat, though covertly 
expressed — as their manner is — which we gather to be this : 
that as themselves (as we conceive) have been much awed, 
in point of their continued subjection to the state of Eng- 
land, lest, in case they should decline, England might pro- 
hibit all trade with them, both in point of exportation and 
importation of any commodities, which were a host sufficient- 
ly prevalent to subdue New England, as not being able to 
subsist ; even so they seem secretly to threaten us, by cut- 
ting us off from all commerce and trade with them, and 
thereby to disable us of any comfortable subsistence, because 
that the concourse of shipping, and so of all kind of commod- 
ities, is universally conversant amongst themselves ; as also 
knowing that ourselves are not in a capacity to send out 
shipping of ourselves, which is in a great measure occasioned 
by their oppressing us, as yourself well know ; as in many 
other respects, so in this for one, that we cannot have any- 
thing from them for the supply of our necessities, but, in ef- 
fect, they make the prices both of our commodities and their 
own also, because we have not English coin, but only that 
9 



130 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

which passeth among the:*e barbarians, and such commodities 
as are raised by the labor of our hands, as corn, cattle, to- 
bacco, &c, to make payment in, which they will have at 
their own rate, or else not deal with us ; whereby though they 
gain extraordinarily by us, yet, for the safeguard of their re- 
ligion, may seem to neglect themselves in that respect ; for 
what will not men do for their God'? 

" Sir, this is our earnest and present request unto you in 
this matter, that as you may perceive in our answer to the 
united colonies, that we fly as to our refuge in all civil res- 
pects to his highness and honorable council, as not being 
subject to any others in matters of our civil state, so may it 
please you to have an eye and ear open, in case our adversa- 
ries should seek to undermine us in our privileges granted 
unto us, and to plead our case in such sort, as that we may 
not he compelled to exercise any civil power over men's con* 
sciences, so long as human orders in point of civility are 
not corrupted and violated, which our neighbors about us do 
frequently practise, whereof many of us have large experi- 
ence, and judge it to be no less than a point of absolute 

CRUELTY. 

"John Sanford, 
" Clerk of the Assembly."* 

Thus terminated the controversy respecting the persecu- 
tion of the quakers, between the commissioners of New Eng- 
land and the colony of Rhode Island. It commenced near 
the close of Williams's administration ; the measures on the 
part of the colony were sustained by his advice and authori- 
ty, and his liberal and tolerant spirit pervaded all these pro- 
ceedings. He retired from the office of president in May, 
1658, and it is probable he declined being a caudidate for 
re-election, though, at intervals, for several years, he occu- 
pied a seat in the upper house of the general assembly. 

* Colony Records. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 131 



Perhaps his motives were the same as those which, at a sub- 
sequent period, influenced the immortal Washington, who 
did not think it right that the highest office should be held i. 
for a long period by the same individual. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE KING GRANTS A NEW CHARTER — WILLIAMS APPOINT- 
ED ASSISTANT — CHARGES AGAINST RHODE ISLAND RE- 
FUTED — CONTROVERSY WITH THE QUAKERS — PHILIP'S 
WAR — SERVICES OF WILLIAMS. 

Although Roger Williams had retired from the post of 
chief magistrate, yet he neglected no opportunity to promote 
the interests of the colony. He was appointed by his fellow- 
citizens of Providence to all the higher offices, and frequent 
and honorable mention of his name appears in the records 
both of the town and colony. 

In the meantime, the various trials through which Rhode 
Island passed increased her own love of liberty, and, by the 
blessing of Divine Providence, she overcame all the machi- 
nations of her adversaries, both at home and abroad. Her 
prosperity augmented, and her inhabitants multiplied ; for, 
to the persecuted of all denominations, she was an ark of 
safety. 

John Clarke, who was sent with Roger Williams to Eng- 
land in the year 1651, still continued there, to watch over 
the interests of the colony. After the death of the protect- 
or, and the final subversion of the commonwealth, a commis- 
sion was sent to Dr. Clarke to procure a new charter from 
Charles II. On the 8th of July, 1663, it was granted, and 
conferred full power upon the colony, the king not having 
even reserved to himself the right of revising the proceed- 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 133 

in^s. It gave her the choice of every officer, from the high- 
est to the lowest — it authorized her to make peace and de- 
clare war — and constituted her a sovereignty, under the pro- 
tection of England. This instrument, like the former char- 
ter, thus nobly embodies Rhode Island's great principle : — 

" No person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, 
shall be anywise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in 
question, for any differences in opinion in matters of relig- 
ion, who do not actually disturb the peace of our said colony; 
but that all and every person and persons may, from to time, 
and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy 
his own and their judgments and consciences, in matters 
of religious concernments, throughout the tract of land 
hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceably 
and quietly, and not using this liberty to licentiousness and 
profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance 
of others." 

This charter, from such a source, cannot fail to awaken 
both admiration and astonishment. One so favorable to civil 
and religious liberty was never before granted by an Eng- 
lish monarch ; and it may be doubted whether, up to the 
present period, freedom so unlimited has even yet been be- 
stowed by England upon any of her colonies. 

The new charter was received with enthusiastic joy by 
the colonists. It was brought to New England by Captain 
George Baxter, and presented to the general court at New- 
port, November 24th, 16C3. On the following day, it was 
read in " a very great meeting and assembly of the freemen 
of the colony." The records say, that "the said letters, with 
his majesty's royal stamp and the broad seal, with much be- 
seeming gravity, were held up on high, and presented to the 
perfect view of the people." Thanks were voted to the king, 
to the earl of Clarendon, and to Dr. Clarke, their " trusty 
and well-beloved friend," together with a resolution to pay 



134 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

all his expenses, and to present him with a hundred pounds. 
Thanks were also voted to Capt. Baxter, with a present of 
thirty pounds, besides his expenses from Boston. 

By the provisions of the charter, the king appointed the 
first governor and assistants, who were to continue in office 
till the first Wednesday of May next ensuing. Roger Wil- 
liams was created one of the assistants ; and at the first meet- 
ing of the assembly under the new government, he was ap- 
pointed to transcribe the charter into the records of the 
colony. In May, 1664, at the first general election held by 
the people, Williams was chosen an assistant ; and at this 
session, in connexion with Dr. Clarke, was appointed to 
view the laws. He was also appointed one of the commis- 
sioners to fix the eastern boundary of the colony. 

Such were the auspicious circumstances in which this 
charter went into operation ; and it continued to be the fun- 
damental law of Rhode Island for nearly one hundred and 
eighty years. The community prospered under its rule; 
and when it was supplanted in 1843, by the present consti- 
tution, it was the oldest charter of civil government in exist- 
ence. 

" There into life an infant empire springs I 
There falls the iron from the soul : 
There liberty's young accents roll 
Up to the King of kings !" 

Two charges have been brought against Rhode Island, 
which claim here a passing remark. The first is made by 
an English writer,* who states, that at the meeting of the 
general assembly, in March, 1664, a law was passed, con- 
taining the following passage : — " That all men professing 
Christianity, of competent estates, and of civil conversation, 
who acknowledge and are obedient to the civil magistrates, 
though of different judgments in religious affairs, Roman 

* Chalmer-s Political Annals, book i. c. 11, pp. 276-279. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 135 

Catholics only excepted, shall be admitted freemen, or may 
choose or be chosen colonial officers." 

Such an act would have been an anomaly in the legislation 
of Rhode Island, and a serious reflection upon the character 
of Roger "Williams and the colony. It is certain that no 
law containing the clauses above-written in italics was passed 
in 1664 ; nor can such a law be found in the records of the 
state, from its first settlement to the present time. The Hon. 
Samuel Eddy, who was secretary of state in Rhode Island 
from 1797 to 1819, and who examined the records with the 
utmost care, and with a particular view to this law, declares 
that he could find " nothing that has any reference to it, nor 
anything that gives any preference or privileges to men of 
one set of religious opinions over those of another."* 

This testimony, while alone sufficient to disprove the alle- 
gation, is abundantly confirmed by the fact, that the very 
next year — in May, 1665 — the legislature asserted, that 
" liberty to all persons as to the worship of God had been a 
principle maintained in the colony from the beginning there- 
of; and it was much in their hearts to preserve the same 
liberty for ever." 

The commissioners from England, also, who visited Rhode 
Island the same year, reported of its people : — " They allow 
liberty of conscience to all who - live civilly; they admit of 
all religions."! 

Again, in 1680, the legislature declared: — "We leave 
every man to walk as God persuades his heart ; all our peo- 
ple enjoy freedom of conscience." It is, moreover, utterly 
incredible that they would enact a law at variance with all 
their institutions, and which would have been a violation of 
the charter. It conflicts with all their previous and subse- 
quent policy, and especially with the principles of Williams, 
who, in his Hireling Ministry, says : — " All these consciences 

* For a full statement of Mr. Eddy's views, see Walsh's Appeal, pp. 427 — 
435. t Hutch. Coll. p. 413. 



136 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

(yea, the very conscience of papists, jews, &c, as I have 
proved al large in answer to Mr. Cotton's washings), ought 
freely and impartially to be permitted their several respec- 
tive worships, their ministers of worships, and what way of 
maintaining them they please." 

Judge Eddy accounts for the existence of the words in 
italics, found in the copy of the laws printed in 1745, by 
supposing they were inserted without authority by a revising 
committee, who might be desirous to please the government 
of England. It may be added, that in this very year, 1745, 
great alarm was created in the mother country at the pros- 
pect of the re-introduction of popery, in connexion with the 
invasion of the pretender. The words, professing Christiani- 
ty, and Roman catholics only excepted, are now regarded, by 
all who have carefully examined the subject, as an interpo- 
lation.* 

The other charge is, that, in 1665, the quakers were out- 
lawed for refusing to bear arms.f This statement has also 
been proved to be as destitute of truth as the former by 
Judge Eddy, in an article contained in the Massachusetts 
Historical Collections, 2nd series, vol.vii. p. 97. From this 
article, it appears that the commissioners of the king re- 
quired, in his name, " that all householders, inhabiting this 
colony, take the oath of allegiance," the penalty for refusal 
being, a forfeiture of the elective franchise. The general as- 

*At the time Judge Eddy wrote, there were no copies of the printed digests 
of 1719 and 1730, in the Secretary's office. Since then, copies of these di- 
gests have been found, and the paragraph referred to is inserted in both. 
Still, the main part of Judge Eddy's defence, remains unaffected, as the 
words relating to Roman Catholics are not to be found in the records. 

It should be recollected that the first digest of 1719, was not printed until 
Co years after the passage of the law, and that, previous to this, the law had 
never been in print. It is also known, that several of the early digests of 
laws were prepared by committees, and were probably never revised by the 
Legislature. Only four copies of the digest of 1719 are now known to be in 
existence. 

t See an article signed Francis Brimley, in Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. v. p 216. 
whose statement is repeated in Holmes's American Annals, vol. i. p. 341 






LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS, 137 

sembly replied, that it had been the uniform practice of the 
colony, from respect to the rights of conscience, to allow 
those who objected to an oath to make an engagement, on 
the penalties of perjury. An engagement was accordingly 
drawn up, in which the individual promised to bear allegi- 
ance to the king and his successors, and " to yield due obe- 
dience to the laws established from time to time." To the 
latter part of this engagement the quakers objected, because 
they conceived it would bind them to conform to the militia 
laws. The colony held not power to dispense with the king's 
ordinance ; but the form of the engagement was altered the 
very next year, to meet their scruples ; and the year follow- 
ing, one of their number was elected deputy-governor. 

It may be proper here to give a brief account of Roger 
Williams's famous controversy with the quakers, which is 
contained in the last of his published writings. It was an 
unhappy dispute, in which all parties displayed more zeal 
than christian charity ; and the result probably tended to 
irritate rather than to convince. We must, however, honor 
the motives by which Williams was actuated, and which he 
declares to have been a desire to vindicate the name of God 
from the dishonor brought upon it by the quakers — to justify 
the colony for receiving them when banished from the other 
colonies — and to bear public testimony, that, while he was 
decidedly opposed to any measures which would impair li- 
berty of conscience, he disapproved of the doctrines and 
practices of that sect. Rhode Island, being the refuge of 
these persons, was charged with approving principles and 
conduct injurious to the morals and order of society. These 
remarks must not be understood as applying in the slightest 
degree to the estimable society of Friends as they exist at 
the present day, for none would repudiate more sincerely 
than they the fanatical extravagances of some of the adhe- 
rents of George Fox, at that period, in New England. 

In the month of July, 1672, Williams took occasion, when 



138 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

the distinguished founder of the sect was in Rhode Island, to 
propose that the principles of the quakers should be exam- 
ined in a friendly debate. Such public disputes were not 
uncommon in that age, but they cannot be regarded as a test 
of truth, and have seldom proved beneficial in demolishing 
error. Williams sent fourteen propositions to Fox, at New- 
port; but, from some cause, they were not delivered till 
thirteen days after the date, and the latter left for England 
without having seen them. 

A discussion, however, was commenced with three of his 
disciples at Newport ; and continued there, and at Provi- 
dence, for four days, where it terminated, having produced 
no change of opinion on either side. 

Williams afterwards published an account of this debate, 
which bears the following quaint title : " George Fox digged 
out of his Burrowes ; or, an Offer of Disputation on Four- 
teen Proposals, made this last Summer, 1672 (so-called), 
unto G. Fox, then present on Rhode Island, in New Eng- 
land. By R. W." It is a small quarto volume of 327 pages, 
and displays considerable learning and acuteness, but is dis- 
tinguished by an acerbity of language not found in his other 
writings. This dispute naturally gave umbrage to some of that 
sect for a time ; but there were others who cherished for him 
the highest esteem, among whom was Joseph Jenckes, a sub- 
sequent governor of Rhode Island, who bestows a merited 
eulogy on Williams as a man and a christian. 

He had now reached the appointed bourne of human life ; 
but his physical and mental powers remained vigorous, and 
circumstances occurred about this time which called forth all 
his energies. Massassoit, the principal sachem of the Poka- 
nokets, and the friend of the English, now slept with his fa- 
thers, and his son, Philip, succeeded him as chief over the 
allied tribes. He was able and ambitious, and endeavored 
to establish a league among the Indians, in New England, in 
order to arrest the progress of the whites, or drive them from 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 139 

the land of his fathers. While Philip was making prepara- 
tion for war, in 1671, the governor of Plymouth and the com- 
missioners invited him to meet them at Taunton. The 
haughty chieftain, suspicious of their design, refused; and 
demanded that they should come to him. In this posture of 
affairs, Williams, with a Mr. Brown, offered to become a 
hostage in Philip's camp. He then acceded to the above re- 
quest, delivered up about seventy guns, and promised future 
fidelity. This event, through the successful agency of Wil- 
liams, gave the colony four years to prepare for the impend- 
ing conflict. He exerted himself, also, to prevent the pow- 
erful tribe of the Narragansetts from joining the league. 
They at first promised neutrality, and renewed their treaty 
with the colonies ; but they afterwards united themselves to 
Philip, and rushed, with their four thousand warriors, to the 
final struggle. 

In June 1675, the chief of the Pokanokets commenced a 
war against Plymouth colony, that soon spread terror and 
devastation to almost every settlement of New England. It 
lasted more than a year, and for a time threatened the ex- 
termination of her colonies. About six hundred men, the 
flower of her strength, fell in battle or were butchered by 
the savages ; twelve or thirteen towns were utterly destroyed ; 
six hundred dwelling houses reduced to ashes : and the ex- 
pense and loss equalled in value half a million of dollars. It 
was the most distressing period the country had ever seen, 
and almost every family lost some relative in this calamitous 
war. 

On this occasion, for the first time, Rhode Island became 
exposed to the hostility of the Indians. Many of the inhabi- 
tants of Providence, and of the other towns of the colony, 
removed to the island for safety. Williams, however, re- 
mained at home, and exerted his wonted energy. He ac- 
cepted a commission as captain in the militia, and displayed 
his patriotic valor by buckling on his armor for the defence 



140 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

of his fellow-citizens. He also presented a petition to the 
town of Providence, for leave to convert one of the houses 
into a garrison, and to erect other defences "for the safety 
of the women and children." 

It is said, that when the Indians appeared on the heights 
north of the town, Williams took his staff, and fearlessly 
went forth to meet them, hoping, as on former occasions, to 
appease their vengeance. Some of the old warriors ad- 
vanced from the main body to meet him, with whom he re 
monstrated. He admonished them of the power and ven- 
geance of the English. " Massachusetts," said he, " can 
raise thousands of men at this moment, and if you kill them, 
the king of England will supply their places as fast as they 
fall." "Well," 'answered one of the chieftains, " let them 
come. We are ready for them. But as for you, brother 
Williams, you are a good man. You have been kind to us 
many years. Not a hair of your head shall be touched."* 
Finding their young warriors could not be restrained, he 
returned to the garrison. The Indians subsequently entered 
the town and destroyed by fire thirty deserted habitations ; 
but it does not appear that any persons were killed. In one 
of the houses the records were deposited, which were pre- 
served by being thrown into the Mooshausick, from whence 
they were afterwards recovered, though much injured. 

This conflict was brought to a close, by the death of Phil- 
ip, in August, 1676. The Pokanokets were nearly extermi- 
nated, and of the once powerful Narragansetts hardly one 
hundred men remained. In the wars of the New England 
colonists with the Indians, the candid historian will find much 
both to regret and condemn ; but it is due to the memory of 
the pilgrims to state, that those hostilities were first com- 
menced by the savages, and when the struggle came, it was 
a contest for life or death. We cannot fail to recognize the 

* Baylies' Hist, of Plymouth, vol. iii. p. 314. Thatcher's Indian Biogra- 
phy, vol. i. p. 309. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 141 

hand of an All-wise Providence in preserving the colonists 
during their infant state from such a general league of the 
natives, which, had it been formed at that period, must have 
resulted in their utter extermination. 

In May, 1677, Roger Williams was again elected a mem- 
ber of the upper house of the colonial assembly, but he de- 
clined the office. He continued, however, to watch with 
parental solicitude over the affairs of the colony, and was 
their counsellor in all emergencies. He was especially sen- 
sitive to any departure from those great principles which are 
essential to civil government as well as religious liberty. A 
few factious persons raised objections to the payment of the ne- 
cessary taxes, which induced him to present to his fellow- 
citizens the following paper, entitled Considerations touching 
Rates, many of which may be regarded as valuable civil 
maxims : — 

" I. Government and order in families, towns, &c, is the 
ordinance of the Most High (Rom. xiii.) for the peace and 
good of mankind. 

" II. Six things are written in the hearts of all mankind, 
yea, even in pagans: 1st, That there is a Deity; 2nd, That 
some actions are naught ; 3rd, That the Deity will punish ; 
4th, That there is another life ; 5th, That marriage is hon- 
orable ; 6th, That mankind cannot keep together without 
some government. 

" IH. There is no Englishman in Ms majesty's dominions 
or elsewhere, who is not forced to submit to government. 

li IV. There is not a man in the world, except robbers, 
pirates, and rebels, but doth submit to government. 

" V. Even robbers, pirates, and rebels themselves cannot 
hold together, but by some law among themselves and gov- 
ernment. 

" VI. One of these two great laws in the world must pre- 
vail, — either that of judges and justices of peace in courts of 
peace, or the law of arms, the sword and blood. 



142 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

" VLt. If it comes from the courts of trials of peace, to the 
trial of the sword and blood, the conquered is forced to seek 
law and government. 

"VHI. Till matters come to a settled government, no 
man is ordinarily sure of his house, goods, lands, cattle, wife, 
children, or life. 

" IX. Hence is that ancient maxim, It is better to live un- 
der a tyrant in peace, than under the sword, or where every 
man is a tyrant. 

" X. His majesty sends governors to Barbadoes, Virginia, 
&c, but to us he shows greater favor in our charter, to choose 
whom we please. 

" XL No charters are obtained without great suit, favor, 
or charges. Our first cost a hundred pounds (though I nev- 
er received it all) ; our second about a thousand ; Connecti- 
cut about six thousand, &c. 

" XII. No government is maintained without tribute, cus- 
tom, rates, taxes, &c. 

" Our charter excels all in New England, or in the world*, 
as to the souls of men. 

" XIV. It pleased God (Rom. xiii.) to command tribute, 
custom, and consequently rates, not only for fear, but for 
conscience sake. 

" XV. Our rates are the least, by far, of any colony in 
New England. 

" XVI. There is no man that hath a vote in town or colo- 
ny, but he hath a hand in making the rates by himself or his 
deputies. 

" XVH. In our colony, the general assembly, governor, 
magistrates, deputies, towns, town-clerks, raters, constables, 
&c, have done their duties ; the failing lies upon particular? 
persons. 

" XV HI. It is but folly to resist : (one or more, aud if 
one, why not more ?) God hath stirred up the spirit of the 
governor, magistrates, and officers, driven to it by necessity, 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 143 

to be unanimously resolved to see the matter finished ; and 
it is the duty of every man to maintain, encourage, and 
strengthen the hand of authority. 

" Roger Williams. 
"Providence, 15th Jan. 1681." 

On all questions of civil polity, the views of Williams were 
enlarged, and decidedly in favor of the rights of the people. 
He frequently states them in such passages as the following : 
— " Kings and magistrates must be considered invested with 
no more power than the people betrust them with." " The 
sovereign power of all civil authority is founded in the con- 
sent of the people/'* Though he sympathized with the pop- 
ular party in the contests of that age, and was on terms of 
friendship with many of its distinguished leaders, yet he ex- 
pressed his disapprobation of some of their measures. His 
own colony was a republic, established on the broadest foun- 
dations of individual freedom ; but he was always a loyal 
subject of the government at home, whether administered by 
king, parliament, or protector. A firm friend to law and or- 
der, he sought the essential spirit of liberty in whatever form 
it was enshrined. 

* " Bloudy Tenent,' 5 pp. 116, 243. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



■,'r 



ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS OF THE COLONY — WILLIAMS S 
RELIGIOUS OPINIONS — HIS LABORS AS A MINISTER — 
HIS LETTER TO GOVERNOR BRADSTREET — HIS DEATH. 

In tracing the remarkable course of the subject of our nar- 
rative, from the period of the establishment of his colony, we 
have confined ourselves to those political and social events in 
which he was the prime actor ; but it must not be supposed 
that he ever merged the character of the minister and Indian 
missionary in that of the legislator. We will now advert to 
ecclesiastical affairs, and to the religious opinions and prac- 
tice of Williams. 

He has left us no account himself of the manner in which 
public worship was maintained at Providence ; but we learn 
from Governor Winthrop and others, that, on his first arri- 
val, he was accustomed to preach both on the Sabbath and 
on week-days. In pleasant weather the congregation are 
said to have assembled under the shades of the forest, and at 
other times, being few in number, they were accommodated 
in a private habitation. There is no evidence of any imme- 
diate ecclesiastical organization, but some of the inhabitants 
had been members of the church at Salem, and probably still 
regarded Williams as their pastor. As there was a diversity 
of religious opinions among the people, he may have judged 
it most conducive to the harmony of his little colony, at first 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 145- 

to collect the whole into one assembly, until the number 
should have increased, so as to enable them to form separate 
societies in accordance with their own views. 

In the course of two or three years, the settlement re- 
ceived many accessions from the neighboring colonies and 
from England, and some of these persons were inclined to 
the opinions of the baptists. Williams embraced the same 
views, but it was not easy for him to submit himself to the 
ordinance as usually administered, there being no baptist 
minister in New England. Under these circumstances^ 
Ezekiel Holliman, a pious and gifted individual, who after- 
wards became a minister, was selected to baptize Roger 
Williams, and the latter then administered the ordinance to 
Mr. Holliman and ten others. Few persons in the present 
day, not wedded to sacerdotalism, will, under the peculiar 
circumstances, condemn this proceeding of Williams and his 
friends. They placed the essential value of gospel ordinan- 
ces not in the official character of the administrator, but in 
the spirit of the recipient. 

At that time prophecy was a favorite study with many 
good men, a predilection for which has always characterised 
periods of religious or political excitement. The inquiries 
of Williams appear to have taken the same direction ; and 
he fell into the too common error of deriving the principles 
of the christian church from the prophetic writings. Thus 
imaginative interpretations usurped the place of the rules 
and precedents of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. 
He adopted the opinion, that the entire church had so far 
departed from its primitive constitution, that the triumph of 
Christ's kingdom could not be expected until a new dispen- 
sation, resembling the apostolic, should arise. As, however, 
little dependence can be placed on the prejudiced statements 
of his opponents, our readers must judge of his views from 
his own expositions, in the following passages, from his writ- 
ings. In his " Bloudy Tenent" he says : " Thousands and 
10 



146 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

ten thousands, yea, the whole generation of the righteous, 
who (since the falling away from the first primitive state or 
worship) have and do err fundamentally concerning the true 
matter, constitution, gathering, and governing of the church, 
and yet far be it from any pious breast to imagine that they 
are not saved, and that their souls are not bound up in the 
bundle of eternal life."* In his " Hireling Ministry" he ob- 
serves : " In the poor small span of my life I desired to have 
been a diligent and constant observer, and have been myself 
in many ways engaged, in city, in country, in court, in 
schools, in universities, in churches, in Old and New Eng- 
land, and yet, cannot, in the holy presence of God, bring in 
the result of a satisfying discovery, that either the begetting 
ministry of the apostles to the nations, or the feeding and 
nourishing ministry of pastors and teachers, according to the 
first institutions of the Lord Jesus, are yet restored and ex- 
tant."! In his opinion, the only ministry which existed was 
that of prophets — i. e., teachers whose duty it was to explain 
religious truths and bear witness against error. In a passage 
of the same work he says : " The apostolical commission and 
ministry is long since interrupted and discontinued; yet 
ever since the beast antichrist arose, the Lord hath stirred 
up the ministry of prophecy, who must continue their wit- 
ness and prophecy until their witness be finished, and slaugh- 
ters, probably near approaching, be accomplished." 

These peculiar opinions, however, could not extinguish 
his zeal for the conversion of men ; and in this, as well as in 
other instances, we may observe, that if he was sometimes led 
astray by the speculations of his head, he was restored to the 
right path by the warmth of his heart. We have no evi- 
dence that, after this period, he ever became officially con- 
nected with any church. If, indeed, there had been no 
other obstacle, his engrossing occupations in the general af- 

* Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, p. 20. 
t Hireling Ministry none of Christ's, p. 4. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. U7 

fairs of the colony would have rendered it unsuitable. From 
his first settlement in Providence, however, to the close of 
his life, he continued frequently to preach the gospel to the 
ignorant and destitute around him. He made laudable at- 
tempts to instruct the Narragansett Indians ; and, when he 
was more than three-score years and ten, continued his 
monthly visits to preach to them and the English in that dis- 
trict. A tribe of these Indians, called the Nianticks, were 
objects of his peculiar care, and they would listen to him 
when they would hear no one else. They were so far influ- 
enced by his ministerial labors that they took no part in 
Philip's war. A remnant of this once powerful people still 
continue to reside in their original place of abode, in the 
south-west part of Ehode Island, on lands settled upon them 
by the state, where, civilized and christianized, they remain 
a living monument of the zeal and benevolence of Roffer 
Williams. 

When very near the close of his life, he occupied his lei- 
sure in preparing the discourses which he had delivered dur- 
ing his missionary efforts, as will appear from the following- 
letter. It derives peculiar interest from being the last pro- 
duction of his pen which has been preserved : 

" to my much-honored, kind friend, the governor 
Bradstreet, at Boston. 

" Providence, May 6th, 1682. 
" Sir, — This enclosed tells you that, being old and weak, 
and bruised (with rupture and colic), and lameness on both 
my feet, I am directed, by the Father of our spirits, to de- 
sire to attend his infinite Majesty with a poor mite (which 
makes but two farthings). By my fire-side I have recollect- 
ed the discourses which (by many tedious journeys), I have 
had with the scattered English at Narragansett, before the war 
and since. I have reduced them unto those twenty-two 
heads (enclosed), which is near thirty sheets of my writing. 



148 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

I would send them to the Narragansetts and others : there is 
no controversy in them ; only an endeavor of a particular 
match of each poor sinner to his Maker. For [the expense 
of] printing, I am forced to write to my friends at Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut, Plymouth, and our own colony, that 
he that hath a shilling and a heart to countenance such a 
soul work may trust the great Paymaster (who is beforehand 
with us already)for an hundredth for one in this life. . . . 

" Sir, I shall humbly wait for your advice where it may be 
best printed — at Boston or Cambridge — and for how much, 
the printer finding paper. We have tidings here of Shafts- 
bury's and Howard's beheading — and, contrarily, their re- 
release ; London manifestations of joy ; and the king's call- 
ing a parliament. But all these are but sublunaries, tempo- 
raries, and trivials. Eternity, O eternity ! is our business ; 
to which end I am most unworthy to be 

" Your willing and faithful servant, 

" Eoger Williams. 

" My humble respects to Mrs. Bradstreet, and other hon- 
ored friends." 

The preceding letter affords additional proof of the wri- 
ter's disinterested benevolence and self-denying spirit. With 
ample opportunities of enriching himself — to use the words 
of his son — " he gave away his lands and other estate to them 
that he thought were most in want, until he gave away all."* 
His property, his time, and his talents, were devoted to the 
promotion of the temporal and spiritual welfare of mankind, 
and in conducting to a glorous issue the struggle to unloose 
" the bonds of the captive daughter of Zion." 

The last public act of Williams was to sign a document, 
which bears date January 16, 1683, settling a dispute rela- 
tive to the boundaries between the Providence lands and 
those of an adjacent township. 

* Letter of Daniel Williams to the town of Providence, dated August 24 
1710. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 149 

Having now accompanied this great man through all the 
•events of liis remarkable career — from his youth until the 
last year of his life — we should rejoice to go with him, step 
by step, through the brief remainder of his pilgrimage — to 
listen to the accumulated wisdom of years — to hear his ad- 
monitions to his children, and to his fellow-citizens — his esti- 
mate of the importance of the great principles for which he 
had contended, in the near view of the final judgment — and 
of his triumphant faith, as he stood upon the brink of the 
river of death ; bnt on these points history is silent. We 
are furnished only with a brief record of his death, related 
in a manner which would lead us to suppose he was spared 
the sufferings of lengthened illness, and called rather sud- 
denly from his long service to his eternal reward. On the 
10th of the following May, Mr. John Thornton, of Provi- 
dence, wrote to the E-ev. Samuel Hubbard of Boston : — 
"The Lord hath arrested by death our ancient and approved 
friend, Mr. Roger Williams, with divers others here." " He 
was buried/' says Callender, " with all the solemnity the col- 
ony was able to show." His remains were interred in a spot 
which he himself had selected, on his own land, a short dis- 
tance from the place where, forty-seven years before, he 
first set his foot in the wilderness. He had nearly attained 
four score, being in the seventy-eighth year of his age. His 
excellent wife survived him, and, as far as can be ascertained, 
the whole of his family, consisting of six children. His lin- 
eal descendants are numerous, and may justly rejoice in the 
diffusion alike cf the fame and of the principles of their an- 
cestor. 



CHAPTER XVm. 

GENERAL ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER — SPREAD OF HIS 
GREAT PRINCIPLE — CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 

Having, in the preceding pages, made Williams, to a great 
extent, his own biographer, an elaborate portraiture here is 
unnecessary. The reader must have observed in his charac- 
ter that harmony between the mental and moral qualities 
which is essential to true greatness, and to the influence ne- 
cessary for a reformer ; since the virtues of the man will 
predispose to the favorable reception of his new opinions. 
The powers of his mind were strong and original ; and what 
he accomplished in the sphere he occupied, sufficiently indi- 
cates what he might have done on a larger theatre. His 
Writings manifest a lively imagination and vigorous reason- 
ing powers ; and though his style is disfigured by the defects 
common to the period, it occasionally rises into beauty and 
eloquence. 

His moral qualities were of the highest order. Inflexible 
integrity, undaunted courage, and prompt decision, marked 
all his conduct. In his pecuniary transactions, his disinter- 
estedness was carried to an extreme, since he may be said to 
have given to his fellow-citizens valuable tracts of land, which 
strictly belonged to himself and his family. Every man, of 
whatever clime, or color, or condition, he regarded as a 
brother. In all the relations of domestic and social life, his 
conduct was most exemplary. 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 151 

Over his whole course his piety shed a hallo-wed lustre. 
In him it was a permanent, living principle, as his publica- 
tions and letters abundantly prove. In this testimony his 
friends and his opponents unite. Even the prejudiced Cot- 
ton Mather confesses, that "in many things he acquitted 
himself so laudably, that many judicious persons judged him 
to have had the root of the matter in him." Hubbard, who 
was a contemporary, says, " Mr. Williams was a godly and 
zealous preacher." Callender, one of the best authorities on 
this subject, observes, " Mr. Williams appears, by the whole 
course and tenor of his life and conduct here, to have been 
one of the most disinterested men that ever lived — a most 
pious and heavenly-minded soul." His forgiving spirit ; his 
fervent devotion ; his energetic, vigilant, and untiring ef- 
forts in the cause of humanity, demonstrate that he was an 
eminent christian. We may regard it is an additional evi- 
dence of his consistent piety, that the only charge his oppo- 
nents have brought against him was a fondness for new opin- 
ions, which they have employed in order to discredit his 
great principle — the supremacy of conscience. Now it is of 
great importance, in estimating religious character, to in- 
quire whether a man changes his principles, or only his opin- 
ions on non-essential points. If he is continually sliding off 
from the basis of faith and salvation, even though he at last 
return to saving truth, our confidence in the soundness of 
his head and heart must be shaken. But this was not the 
case with Wiliams. From the beginning to the end of his 
course he never swerved from the great evangelical doctrines 
of the gospel, defending them by his writings, and illustrating 
them by the appropriate fruits of a holy life. 

With respect to changes of opinion, one of two things 
must be admitted ; either that all christians have received 
the whole of scriptural truth already, or that, in attaining to 
it, they must give up some old opinions. Those men of 
penetrating understandings, who have been led to renounce 



152 LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

error and to discover new truths, have rarely avoided ming- 
ling some chaff with the wheat, of which we many examples 
at the Reformation. The subject of this narrative, like most 
men of an ardent and speculative temperament, sometimes 
pushed his reasonings so far as to lead to false conclusions ; 
but he was a sincere lover of truth, and nothing could pre- 
vent him from carrying out his earnest convictions. 

That noble principle, which is the pillar of his fame, has 
now been sufficiently tested. More than two centuries have 
elapsed since his colony was founded. It has passed from 
the protection of England to an independent state, forming 
an integral part of a great republic ; but in all changes it has 
preserved religious freedom unimpaired. In Rhode Island, 
no man has ever been molested on account of his religious 
opinions ; and civil officers, from the highest to the lowest, 
have been chosen without regard to denomination. The 
happy results have been apparent in the harmony existing 
among the different sects, as well as in the liberal support 
given to public worship and to religious institutions. In no 
part of the world is the proportion of churches to the popu- 
lation greater than in this state. 

English travellers who have spoken favorably of the ex- 
ample presented in the New World of religion, unsupported 
by the state, have frequently qualified their approbation on 
the ground that the experiment has been too short to afford 
conclusive evidence. Probably many of these gentlemen 
did not know that there was one state, at least, to which this 
objection cannot apply. Two hundred and sixteen years are, 
surely, long enough to judge of the results of any system. 
Protestantism itself can boast of only one century more ! 

It has proved to be an expansive system. The leaven, at 
first hidden in one small territory, gradually extended itself 
until Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other states, 
where episcopalianism or Congregationalism was established 
by law, were penetrated by its influence. The last link 



LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 153 

which bound religion to the state was burst asunder by Mas- 
sachusetts in 1833, and every part of the union has now 
adopted that great truth which occasioned the persecution 
and banishment of Roger Williams. 

Thus his principles have received a wide illustration, and 
his name its noblest memorial. And when the system of 
Rhode Island shall spread over the whole of Christendom, as 
we believe it is destined to do, the founder of that state will 
be remembered as one of its chief confessors. The approach 
of that period is indicated by the signs of the times ; and 
every Christian should endeavor, by effort and prayer, to . 
accelerate its progress. It will be the harbinger of that long- 
expected and glorious era, when anti-christ in all its forms 
shall fall, and the triumphs of the church of Christ be uni- 
versal and complete ! 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



No. I.— (P. 49.) 

An extract from the following letter lias already been given 
in the work. The remainder is here added, as presenting 
some interesting traits in the character of Williams, as well 
as of the circumstances of the colonies. Major Mason was 
distinguished for his services in the Pequod war. He was 
major-general of the Connecticut forces, deputy-governor of 
that colony, &c. 

"Providence, June 22, 1670. 

" Major Mason, — My honored, dear, and ancient friend, 
my due respects and earnest desires to God for your eternal 
peace, &c. 

" I crave your leave and patience to present you with 
some few considerations, occasioned by the late transactions 
between your colony and ours. The last year you were 
pleased, in one of your hues to me, to tell me that you longed 
to see my face once more before you died. I embraced your 
love, though I feared my old lame bones, and yours, had ar- 
rested travelling in this world, and therefore I was, and am, 
ready to lay hold, on all occasions, of writing, as I do at pre- 
sent. 

" The occasion, I confess, is sorrowful, because I see your- 
selves, with others, embarked in a resolution to invade and 



158 APPENDIX. 

despoil your poor countrymen in a wilderness, and your an- 
cient friends of our temporal and soul liberties. 

"It is sorrowful, also, because mine eye beholds a black 
and doleful train of grievous, and, I fear, bloody consequen- 
ces at the heel of this business, both to you and us. The 
Lord is righteous in all our afflictions, — that is a maxim ; 
the Lord is gracious to all oppressed, — that is another ; he 
is most gracious to the soul that cries and waits on him ; that 
is silver, tried in the fire, seven times. 

" Sir, I am not out of hopes but that, while your aged eyes 
and mine are yet in their orbs, we shall leave our friends 
and countrymen, our children and relations, and this land, in 
peace behind us. To this end, sir, please you, with a calm, 
and steady, and a christian hand, to hold the balance, and to 
weigh these few considerations, in much love and due res- 
pect presented 

" When, the next year after my banishment, the Lord 
drew the bow of the Pequod war against the country, in 
which, sir, the Lord made yourself, with others, a blessed in- 
strument of peace, to all New England, I had my share of 
service to the whole land in that Pequod business, inferior to 
very few that acted 

" I marched up with General Stoughton and the English 
forces to the Narragansett sachems, and brought my country- 
men, and the barbarians, sachems and captains, to a mutual 
confidence and complacency, each in other. 

" Though I was ready to have marched further, yet, upon 
agreement that I should keep at Providence, as an agent 
between the bay and the army, I returned, and was inter- 
preter and intelligencer, constantly receiving and sending 
letters to the governor and council at Boston, &c, in which 
work I judge it no impertinent digression to recite (out of 
the many scores of letters, at times, from Mr. Winthrop), 
this one pious and heavenly prophecy, touching all New 
England, of that gallant man; viz., ' If the Lord turn away 



APPENDIX. 159 

liis face from our sins, and bless our endeavors and yours, 
at this time against our bloody enemy, we and our children 
shall long enjoy peace in this our wilderness condition/ 
And himself and some other of the council motioned, and it 
was debated, whether or no I had not merited, not only to 
be recalled from banishment, but also to be honored with 
some remark of favor. It is known who hindered, who 
never promoted, the liberty of other men's consciences. 
These things, and ten times more, I could relate, to show 
that I am not a stranger to the Pequod wars and lands, and 
possibly not far from the merit of a foot of land in either 
country which I have not. 

" Considering (upon frequent exceptions against Provi- 
dence men) that we had no authority for civil government, 
I went purposely to England, and upon my report and pe- 
tition the parliament granted us a charter of government for 
these parts, so judged vacant on all hands. And upon this, 
the country about us was more friendly, and wrote to us, and 
treated us as an authorized colony ; only the difference of our 
consciences much obstructed. The bounds of this our first 
charter, I (having occular knowledge of persons, places, and 
transactions) did honestly and conscientiously, as in the holy 
presence of God, draw up from Pawcatuck river, which I 
then believed, and still do, is free from all English claims and 
conquests; for although there were some Pequods on this 
side the river, who, by reason of some sachems' marriages 
with some on this side, lived in a kind of neutrality with 
both sides, yet, upon the breaking out of the war, they relin- 
quished their land to the possession of their enemies, the 
Narragansetts and Nianticks, and their land never came into 
the condition of the lands on the other side, which the Eng- 
lish, by conquest, challenged ; so that I must still affirm, as 
in God's holy presence, I tenderly waived to touch a foot of 
land in which I knew the Pequod wars were maintained and 
were properly Pequod, being a gallant country ; and from 



160 APPENDIX. 

Pawcatuck river hitherward, being but a patch of ground, 
full of troublesome inhabitants, I did, as I judged, inoffen- 
sively, draw our poor and inconsiderable line. 

" It is true, when at Portsmouth, on Rhode Island, some 
of ours, in a general assembly, motioned their planting on 
this side Pawcatuck. I, hearing that some of the Massachu- 
setts reckoned this land theirs, by conquest, dissuaded from 
the motion, until the matter should be amicably debated and 
composed ; for though I questioned not our right, &c, yet I 
feared it would be inexpedient and offensive, and procrea- 
tive of these heats and fires, to the dishonoring of the king's 
majesty, and the dishonoring and blaspheming of God and 
of religion in the eyes of the English and barbarians about 
us. 

" Some time after the Pequod war and our charter from 
the parliament, the government of Massachusetts wrote to 
myself (then chief officer in this colony), of their receiving 
of a patent from the parliament for these vacant lands, as 
an addition to the Massachusetts, &c, and thereupon request- 
ing me to exercise no more authority, &c, for, they wrote, 
their charter was granted some few weeks before ours. I 
returned, what I believe, righteous and weighty, to the hands 
of my true friend, Mr. Winthrop, the first mover of my com- 
ing into these parts, and to that answer of mine I never re- 
ceived the least reply ; only it is certain that, at Mr. Gor- 
ton's complaint against the Massachusetts, the lord high 
admiral, president, said openly, in a full meeting of the 
commissioners, that he knew no other charter for these parts 
than what Mr. Williams had obtained, and he was sure that 
charter, which the Massachusetts Englishmen pretended, had 
never passed the table. 

" Upon our humble address by our agent, Mr. Clarke, to 
his majesty, and his gracious promise of renewing our former 
charter, Mr. Winthrop, upon some mistake, had entrenched 
upon our line, and not only so, but, as it is said, upon the 



APPENDIX. 161 

lines of other charters also. Upon Mr. Clarke's complaint 
your grant was called in again, and it had never been re- 
turned ; but upon a report that the agents, Mr. Winthrop 
and Mr. Clarke, were agreed, by mediation of friends (and, 
it is true, they came to a solemn agreement, under hands 
and seals), which agreement was never violated on our part. 

" But the king's majesty sending his commissioners (among 
other of his royal purposes) to reconcile the differences of, 
and to settle the bounds between, the colonies, yourselves 
know how the king himself, therefore, hath given a decision 
to this controversy. Accordingly, the king's majesty's afore- 
said commissioners at Rhode Island (where, as a commission- 
er for this colony, I transacted with them, as did also com- 
missioners from Plymouth), they composed a controversy 
between Plymouth and us, and settled the bounds between 
us, in which we rest. 

" However you satisfy yourselves with the Pequod con- 
quest ; with the sealing of your charter some few weeks be- 
fore ours ; with the complaints of particular men to your 
colony ; yet, upon a due and serious examination of the 
matter, in the sight of God, you will find the business at bot- 
tom to be, 

" 1. A depraved appetite after the great vanities, dreams, 
and shadows of this vanishing life, great portions of land, 
land in this wilderness, as if men were in as great necessity 
and danger for want of great portions of land, as poor, hun- 
gry, thirsty seaman have, after a sick and stormy, a long and 
starving passage. This is one of the Gods of New England, 
which the living and most high Eternal will destroy and 
famish. 

" 2. An unneighborly and unchristian intrusion upon us, 
as being the weaker, contrary to your laws as well as ours, 
concerning purchases of lands without the consent of the 
general court. This I told Major Atherton, at his first going 
up to the Narragansett about this business. I refused ail 
11 



162 APPENDIX. 

their proffers of land, and refused to interpret for theni to 
the sachems. 

" 3. From these violations and intrusions arise the com- 
plaint of many privateers, not dealing as they would be dealt 
with, according to law of nature, — the law of the proph- 
ets and Christ Jesus, — complaining against others in a de= 
si<m, when they themselves are delinquents and wrong-doers, 
I could aggravate this many ways with scripture rhetoric 
and similitudes, but I see need of anodynes (as physicians 
speak) and not of irritations. Only this I must crave leave 
to say, that it looks like a prodigy or monster, that country- 
men among savages in a wilderness — that professors of God, 
and of one Mediator, and of an eternal life, and that this is 
like a dream — should not be content with those vast and 
large tracts which all the other colonies have (like platters 
and tables full of dainties), but pull and snatch away their 
poor neighbors' bit or crust ; and a crust it is, and a dry, 
hard one, too, because of the natives' continued trouble^ 
trials, and vexations. 

" Alas ! sir, in calm, midnight thoughts, what are these 
leaves and flowers, and smoke and shadows, and dreams of 
earthly nothings, about which we poor fools and children, as 
David saith, disquiet ourselves in vain ? Alas ! what is all 
the scuffling of this world for, but, come, will you smoke it ? 
What are all the contentions and wars of this world about, 
generally, but for greater dishes and bowls of porridge, of 
which, if we believe God's Spirit in Scripture, Esau and Ja- 
cob were types ? Esau will part with the heavenly birth- 
right for his supping, after his hunting, for god belly ; and 
Jacob will part with his porridge for an eternal inheritance. 
O Lord, give me to make Jacob's and Mary's choice, which 
shall never be taken from me. 

" How much sweeter is the counsel of the Son of God, to 
mind, first, the matters of his kingdom, — to take no care for 
o-morrow, — to pluck out, cut off, and fling away, right eyes, 



APPENDIX. 16S-. 

hands, and feet, rather than to be cast whole into hell-fire ; 
to consider the ravens and the lilies, whom a heavenly Fa- 
ther so clothes and feeds; and the counsel of his servant 
Paul, to roll our cares, for this life also, upon the most high 
Lord, steward of his people, the eternal God ; to be content 
with food and raiment ; to mind not our own, but every man 
the things of another ; yea, and to suffer wrong, and part 
with that we judge is right, yea, our lives, and (as poor wo- 
men-martyrs have said) as many as there be hairs upon our 
heads, for the name of God and the Son of God his sake. 
This is humanity, yea, this is Christianity. The rest is but 
formality and picture, courteous idolatry, and Jewish and 
Popish blasphemy against the christian religion, the Father 
of spirits, and his Son the Lord Jesus. Besides, sir, the mat- 
ter with us is not about these children's toys of land, mead- 
ows, cattle, government, &c. But here, all over this colony, 
a great number of weak and distressed souls, scattered, are 
flying hither from Old and New England, the Most High 
and Only Wise hath, in his infinite wisdom, provided this 
country and this corner as a shelter for the poor and perse- 
cuted, according to their several persuasions. And thus that 
heavenly man, Mr. Haynes, governor of Connecticut, though 
he pronounced the sentence of my long banishment against 
me, at Cambridge, then Newtown, yet said unto me, in his 
own house at Hartford, being then in some difference with 
the Bay : ' I think, Mr. Williams, I must now confess to you, 
that the most wise God hath provided and cut out this part 
of his world for a refuge and receptacle for all sorts of con- 
sciences. I am now under a cloud, and my brother Hooker, 
with the Bay, as you have been ; we have removed from 
them thus far, and yet they are not satisfied.' 

" Thus, sir, the king's majesty, though his father's and his 
own conscience favored lord bishops, which their father and 
grandfather King James — whom I have spoke with — sore 
against his will, also did, yet all the world may see, by his 



164 APPENDIX. 

majesty's declarations and engagements before Ms return, 
and his declarations and parliament speeches since, and many 
suitable actings, how the Father of spirits hath mightily im- 
pressed and touched his royal spirit, though the bishops much 
disturbed him, with deep inclination of favor and gentleness 
to different consciences and apprehensions, as to the invisi- 
ble King and way of his worship. Hence he hath vouch- 
safed his royal promise under his hand and broad seal, that 
no person in this colony shall be molested or questioned for 
the matters of his conscience to God, so he be loyal and keep 
the civil peace. Sir, we must part with lives and land be- 
fore we part with such a jewel. I judge you may yield some 
land and the government of it to us, and we, for peace sake, 
the like to you, as being but subjects to one king, &c, and I 
think the king's majesty would thank us, for many reasons. 
But to part with this jewel, we may as soon do it as the Jews 
with the favor of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. Your- 
selves pretend liberty of conscience, but, alas ! it is but self, 
the great god self, only to yourselves. The king's majesty 
winks at Barbadoes, where Jews, and all sorts of Christian 
and antichristian persuasions are free ; but our grant, some 
few weeks after yours sealed, though granted as soon, if not 
before yours, is crowned with the king's extraordinary favor 
to this colony, as being a banished one, in which his majesty 
■ declared himself that he would experiment, whether civil 
government could consist with such liberty of conscience. 
This his majesty's grant was startled at by his majesty's high 
officers of state, who were to view it in course before the seal- 
ing ; but, fearing the lion's roaring, they couched, against 
their wills, in obedience to his majesty's pleasure. 

" Some of yours, as I heard lately, told tales to the arch- 
bishop of Canterbury; viz., that we are a profane people, 
and do not keep the Sabbath, but some do plough, &c. But, 
first, you told him not how we suffer freely all other persua- 
• sions, yea, the common prayer, which yourselves will not 



APPENDIX. 165" 

suffer. If you say you will, you confess you must suffer 
more, as we do. 

" 2. You know this is but a color to your design, for, first, 
you know that all England itself (after the formality and su- 
perstition of morning and evening prayer) play away their 
Sabbath. 2nd. You know yourselves do not keep the Sab- 
bath, that is, the seventh day, &c. 

" 3. You know that famous Calvin, and thousands more, 
held it but ceremonial and figurative, from Colossians ii., &c, 
and vanished ; and that the day of worship was alterable at 
the church's pleasure. Thus, also, all the Romanists confess t 
saying, viz., that there is no express scripture, first, for in- 
fant's baptisms ; nor, second, for abolishing the seventh day, 
instituting the eighth day of worship, but that it is at the 
church's pleasure. 

" 4. You know that, generally, all this whole colony ob- 
serve the first day, only here and there one out of conscience, 
another out of covetousness, make no conscience of it. 

" 5. You know the greatest part of the world make no con- 
science of a seventh day. The next part of the world, 
Turks, Jews, and Christians, keep three different days — Fri- 
day, Saturday, Sunday — for their Sabbath and day of wor- 
ship ; and every one maintains his own by the longest sword. 

" 6. I have offered, and do, by these presents, to discuss 
by disputation, writing or printing, among other points of 
differences, these three positions : first, that forced worship 
stinks in God's nostrils. 2nd. That it denies Christ Jesus 
yet to be come, and makes the church yet national, figura- 
tive, and ceremonial. 3rd. That in these flames about re- 
ligion, as his majesty, his father, and grandfather have yield- 
ed, there is no other prudent, christian way of preserving 
peace in the world, but by permission of differing conscien- 
ces. Accordingly, I do now offer to dispute these points and 
other points of difference, if you please, at Hartford, Boston, 
and Plymouth. For the manner of the dispute and the dis- 



166 APPENDIX. 

cussion, if you think fit, one whole day each month in sum- 
mer, at each place, by course, I am ready, if the Lord per- 
mit, and, as I humbly hope, assist me. 

"It is said, that you intend not to invade our spiritual or 
civil liberties, but only (under the advantage of first sealing 
your charter (to right the privateers that petition to you. It 
is said, also, that if you had but Mishquomacuck and Narra- 
gansett lands quietly yielded, you would stop at Cowesit, &c. 
Oh, sir, what do these thoughts preach, but that private cab- 
ins rule all, whatever become of the ship of common safety 
and religion, which is so much pretended in New England ? 
Sir, I have heard further, and by some that say they know, 
that something deeper than all which hath been mentioned 
lies in the three colonies' breasts and consultations. I judge 
it not fit to commit such matter to the trust of paper, &c, 
but only beseech the Father of spirits to guide our poor be- 
wildered spirits, for his name and mercy sake. 

" Whereas our case seems to be the case of Paul appealing 
to Ca?sar against the plots of his religious, zealous adversa- 
ries. I hear you pass not our petitions and appeals to his 
majesty, for partly you think the king will not own a profane 
people that do not keep the Sabbath ; partly you think the 
king an incompetent judge, but you will force him to law al- 
so, to confirm your first-born Esau, though Jacob had him 
by the heels, and in God's holy time must carry the birth- 
right and inheritance. I judge your surmise is a dangerous 
mistake ; for patents, grants, and charters, and such like roy- 
al favors, are not laws of England and acts of parliament, 
nor matters of propriety and meum and tuum between the 
king and his subjects, which, as the times have been, have 
been sometimes triable in inferior courts ; but such kind of 
grants have been like high offices in England, of high hon- 
or, and ten, yea, twenty thousand pounds gain per annum, 
yet revocable or curtable upon pleasure, according to the 
king's better information or upon his majesty's sight, or mis- 



APPENDIX. 167 

behavior, in gratefulness, or designs fraudulently plotted, 
private and distinct from him. 

" Sir, I lament that such designs should be carried on at 
such a time, while we are stripped and whipped, and are still 
under (the whole country) the dreadful rods of God, in our 
wheat, hay, corn, cattle, shipping, trading, bodies, and lives ; 
when on the other side of the water, all sorts of consciences 
(yours and ours) are frying in the bishops' pan and furnace ; 
when the French and Romish Jesuits, the firebrands of the 
world for their god belly sake, are kindling at our back, in 
this country, especially with the Mohawks and Mohegans, 
against us, of which I know and have daily information. 

" If any please to say, is there no medicine for this mala- 
dy ? Must the nakedness of New England, like some noto- 
rious strumpet, be prostituted to the blaspheming eyes of all 
nations ? Must we be put to plead before his majesty, and 
consequently the lord bishops, our common enemies, &c. ? 
I answer, the Father of mercies and God of all consolations 
hath graciously discovered to me, as I believe, a remedy, which, 
if taken, will quiet all minds, yours and ours ; will keep yours 
and ours in quiet possession and enjoyment of their lands, 
which you all have so dearly bought and purchased in this 
barbarous country, and so long possessed amongst these wild 
savages ; will preserve you both in the liberties and honors 
of your charters and governments, without the least impeach- 
ment of yielding one to another ; with a strong curb also to 
those wild barbarians and all the barbarians of this country, 
without troubling of compromisers and arbitrators between 
you ; without any delay, or long and chargeable and griev- 
ous address to our king's majesty, whose gentle and serene 
soul must needs be afflicted to be troubled again with us. If 
you please to ask me what my prescription is, I will not put 
you off to christian moderation, or christian humility, or 
christian prudence, or christian love, or christian self-denial, 
<?r christian contention or patience. For I design a civil, a 



168 APPENDIX. 

humane, and political medicine, which, if the God of heaven 
please to bless, you will find it effectual to all the ends I 
have proposed. Only I must crave your pardon, both par- 
ties of you, if I judge it not fit to discover it at present. I 
know you are both of you hot ; I fear myself, also. If both 
desire, in a loving and calm spirit, to enjoy your rights, I 
promise you, with God's help, to help you to them, in a fair, 
and sweet, and easy way. My receipt will not please you 
all. If it should so please God to frown upon us that you 
should not like it, I can but humbly mourn, and say with the 
prophet, that which must perish, must perish. And as to 
myself, in endeavoring after your temporal and spiritual 
peace, I humbly desire to say, if I perish I perish. It is but 
a shadow vanished, a bubble broke, a dream finished. Eter- 
nity will pay for all. 

" Sir, I am your old and true friend and servant, 

« R. W."* 

• * Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. i. 



APPENDIX. 169 



No. II.— Letter of Sir Henry Vane.— (P. 115.) 

The reader will have noticed the warm friendship, and 
the coincidence of opinion on religions freedom, existing be- 
tween Roger Williams and Sir Henry Vane. It has been 
remarked by a distinguished historian, Sir James Mackin- 
tosh,* that the latter was " the first who laid down, with per- 
fect precision, the inviolable rights of conscience, and the 
exemption of religion from all civil authority." Sir James 
had probably never seen Williams's " Bloudy Tenent," 
which was published twelve years before Sir Henry Vane's 
" Healing Question propounded and resolved," &c. In the 
last mentioned work, copies of which are now rare, Sir Hen- 
ry, after having stated that the great design of the honest 
party was " to restore to the whole body their natural rights 
in civil things," makes the following striking observations on 
" true freedom in matters of conscience :" — 

' : The second branch which remains briefly to be handled, 
is that which also, upon the grounds of natural right, is to be 
laid claim unto ; but distinguishes itself from the former, as 
it respects a more heavenly and excellent object, wherein 
the freedom is to be exercised and enjoyed ; that is to say, 
matters of religion, or that concern the service and worship 
of God. 

" Unto this freedom the nations of the world have right 
and title, by the purchase of Christ's blood, who, by virtue 
of his death and resurrection, is become the sole Lord and 
Ruler in and over the conscience ; for to this end Christ 

* View of the Reign of James II., p. 166. 



1 70 APPENDIX. 

died, rose, and revived, that lie might be Lord both of the 
dead and of the living, and that every one might give an ac- 
count of himself in all matters of God's worship, unto God 
and Christ alone, as their own Master, unto whom they stand 
or fall in judgment, and are not in these things to be op- 
pressed, or brought before the judgment-seat of men. For 
why shouldest thou set at nought thy brother in matters of 
his faith and conscience, and herein intrude into the proper 
office of Christ, since we are all to stand at the judgment- 
seat of Christ, whether governors or governed, and by his 
decision only are capable of being declared, with certainty, 
to be in the right or in the wrong ? 

" By virtue, then, of this supreme law, sealed and con- 
firmed in the blood of Christ unto all men (whose souls he 
challenges a propriety in, to bring under his inward rule in 
the service and worship of God), it is that all magistrates 
are to fear and forbear intermeddling with, giving rule or 
imposing in those matters. They are to content themselves 
with what is plain in their commission, as ordained of God 
to be his ministers unto men for good, whilst they approve 
themselves the doers of that which is good in the sight of 
men, and whereof earthly and worldly judicatures are capa- 
ble to make a clear and perfect judgment ; in which case the 
magistrate is to be for praise and protection to them. In 
like manner he is to be a minister of terror and revenge to 
those that do evil in matters of outward practice, converse, 
and dealings in the things of this life hetween man and man, 
for the cause whereof the judicatures of men are appointed 
and set up. But to exceed these limits, as it is not safe nor 
warrantable for the magistrate (in that He who is higher 
than the highest regards, and will show himself displeased at 
it), so neither is it good for the people, who hereby are 
nourished up in a biting, devouring, wrathful spirit one 
against another, and are found transgressors of that royal 
law which forbids us to do that unto another, which we 
would not have them do unto us, were we in their condition. 



APPENDIX. 171 

° This freedom, then, is of high concern to be had and en- 
joyed, as well for the magistrate's sake as for the people's 
common good, and it consists, as hath been, in the magis- 
trate's forbearing to put forth the power of rule and coercion 
in tilings that God hath exempted out of his commission, so 
that all care requisite for the people's obtaining this may be 
exercised with great ease, if it be taken in its proper season ; 
and that this restraint be laid upon the supreme power be- 
fore it be erected, as a fundamental constitution, among 
others, upon which the free consent of the people is given, to 
have the persons brought into the exercise of supreme au- 
thority over them, and on their behalf; and if, besides, as a 
further confirmation hereunto, it be acknowledged the vol- 
untary act of the ruling power, when once brought into a 
capacity of acting legislatively, that herein they are bound 
up, and judge it their duty so to be (both in reference to 
God, the institutor of magistracy, and in reference to the 
whole body by whom they are entrusted), this great blessing 
will hereby be so well provided for, that we shall have no 
cause to fear, as it may be ordered. 

" By this means a great part of the outward exercise of 
antichristian tyranny and bondage will be plucked up by the 
very roots, which, till some such course be held in it, will be 
always apt to renew and sprout out afresh, under some new 
form or refined appearances, as by late years experience we 
have been taught. For, since the fall of the bishops and 
persecuting presbyteries, the same spirit is apt to arise in 
the next sort of clergy that can get the ear of the magistrate, 
and pretend to the keeping and ruling the conscience of the 
governors. Although this spirit and practice hath all along 
been decried by the faithful adherents to this cause, as a 
most sore oppression and insufferable yoke of bondage, most 
unrighteously kept up over the consciences of the people, 
and therefore judged by them most needful to be taken out 
of the way." — A Healing Question propounded and resolved, 



172 APPENDIX. 

upon occasion of the late public and seasonable Call to Hu- 
miliation, in order to love and union amongst the honest party, 
and with desire to apply balsam to the wound before it be- 
comes incurable. By Henry Vane, knight. Pp. 5 — 8. 4to. 
London, 1656. 



APPENDIX. 173 



No. Ill— (P. 124.) 

The following is an abridgment of the genealogy of the 
Cromwell family, taken from the " London Review," for 
March, 1772. 

This genealogy was extracted from Welsh chronicles, 
about the year 1602, to show the descent of Sir Henry 
Cromwell, who was then living. It commences in the per- 
son of Glothyan, fifth lord of Powes, who married Morpeth, 
daughter and heiress of Edwin ap Tydwall, lord of Cardigan, 
who was descended from Cavedig, from whom the county of 
Cardigan took the name of Cavedigion. His son, Gwaith 
Voyd, was lord of Cardigan, Powes, Gwayte, and Gwayne- 
saye. He died about 1066. 

From Gwynstan ap Gwaith, seconci son of the above 
Gwaith Voyd, was lineally descended, through about thir- 
teen generations, or in about four hundred and forty years, 
Morgan Williams, who, in the reign of Henry VEX, mar- 
ried the sister of Thomas Cromwell. This Morgan Williams 
had a son, Richard, who was knighted by Henry VHL, not 
by the name of Williams, but by the name of Cromwell, af- 
ter his uncle, whose heir he became. This Sir Richard had 
a son, Henry, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, in 
1563, and married Joan, daughter of Sir Ralph Warren, and 
had six sons and four daughters. The sons were, Oliver, 
Robert, Henry, Richard, Philip, and Ralph; Oliver, the 
Protector, was the only son of Robert, and born in the par- 
ish of St. John, in Huntingdon, April 25, 1599. 

The tradition in the family of Williams, of there beino- a 
relationship by blood with the Protector, may be true ; but 
it was, as will be perceived, quite remote. 



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